Government Warned About Rushing Disability Benefit Assessment Changes
The government has been cautioned against rushing through planned changes to disability benefits assessments, with experts warning that nearly half a million vulnerable individuals could end up worse off as a result. The proposed reforms to the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) were announced by the previous Conservative government in 2023, with significant revisions to the qualifying criteria. According to research conducted by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), these changes are expected to lead to around 450,000 fewer people being deemed to have limited capability for work.
Labour, which reaffirmed its commitment to the plans in its election manifesto, stated that the WCA is currently not functioning effectively and requires reform or replacement. Nevertheless, experts from the Resolution Foundation think-tank have advised that these changes should not be hastily implemented. They highlighted that approximately 450,000 individuals whose health prevents them from working could see a reduction in benefits of up to £4,900 per year.
The Resolution Foundation emphasised that these alterations could have a significant impact on low-income families, citing that 47% of families receiving these incapacity benefits belong to the bottom 30% of the income distribution. The think-tank recommended that the changes be postponed or cancelled to allow for adequate time to ensure successful implementation.
Critics of the reforms argue that the government’s rationale for the changes – to incentivise more people to enter the workforce – is fundamentally a cost-saving measure in reality. Research indicates that only about 3% of those affected (roughly 15,400 individuals) would transition into employment, leaving the remaining unable to work while facing a substantial financial loss of nearly £5,000 annually. It is projected that the measure will generate around £1.3 billion per year for the Treasury by 2028/29.
Labour’s Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall, has acknowledged the need to address long-term sickness, given that a record 2.8 million people are currently out of work due to this factor. To tackle these challenges, a newly established expert panel recently met to advise the government on achieving its ambitious 80% employment target (currently at 75%).
Kendall stressed the importance of improving healthcare alongside economic reforms to combat rising inactivity levels. The Resolution Foundation echoed these sentiments, highlighting that failing to carefully consider these changes could lead to a burden on other areas of local or central government, as public spending on disability and incapacity benefits for working-age individuals is set to increase by almost 50% over the next six years.
The majority of this expenditure will be allocated to disability benefits like Personal Independence Payments (PIP), which undergo a different assessment process than the WCA. The DWP has been approached for comment on the matter.