How Labour’s benefits cuts may be watered down to quell MP rebellion

The Government is set to water down plans to reform the welfare system in a bid to win over Labour MPs threatening to rebel against controversial cuts to benefits.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said she will include “additional protections on the face of the bill to support the most vulnerable and help people affected by the changes”.

The protections will be written into law, meaning they are “non-negotiable”, Kendall told The Guardian .

The announcement comes after up to 170 MPs threatened to rebel against the plans, which aim to save £5bn by restricting eligibility for personal independence payments (PIP) and the universal credit (UC) health top up.

The reforms are expected to strip up to 1.2 million people of thousands of pounds , sparking backlash from MPs, including Labour chair of the Work and Pensions Committee Debbie Abrahams who warned against “balancing the books on the backs of sick and disabled people”.

Those opposing the cuts have called on the Government to delay them so an independent impact assessment can be carried out before they are introduced.

Kendall refused to delay the plans in a letter made public on Wednesday, instead opting to soften the measures before the welfare reform bill is introduced in the Commons next week.

Longer transitional period after PIP cuts

The largest proportion of savings to the welfare bill are expected to come from reforms to PIP , which supports people with extra costs caused by long-term disability and ill health.

Stricter eligibility requirements will strip the weekly payments from over 370,000 claimants. A further 430,000 who would have become eligible in future will not receive the payments following the reforms.

Claimants will miss out on an estimated £4,500 a year on average.

In her attempt to soften the cuts, Kendall is expected to announce that anybody who loses PIP will receive the payment for a transitional period of 13 weeks, rather than the usual four weeks, before it is removed.

Carer’s allowance will continue to be paid during the 13-week transition, but will end when PIP is removed.

Five would-be Labour rebels have told The i Paper the modifications do not go far enough, with one describing the extended transition period as an “insult” to disabled people .

Severely ill will not be reassessed

Under Labour’s plans, the UC health element, which claimants with limited capability for work and work-related activity receive, will be frozen at £97 a week until 2029/30.

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It will also be reduced to £50 a week for new claimants from 2026/27.

The £50 amount will be frozen for four years.

Kendall has previously pledged that people on universal credit with “the most severe disabilities and health conditions that will never improve” will not be reassessed under the plans, “to give them the confidence and dignity they deserve”.

The Work and Pensions Secretary has appeared to follow through with the promise, vowing that recipients with less than 12 months to live, along with those who have lifelong, often progressive and incurable conditions, will not be subject to reassessments, which take place on average every three years.

They will also automatically get a higher rate of universal credit through a new additional premium.

The right to ‘try work’

Labour has laid out plans to give benefits claimants the right to try employment without the risk of losing their benefits.

The move is said to be in response to surveys showing disabled people and those with long-term health conditions fear they will not get their benefits back if they try employment.

A survey by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) found 200,000 people receiving health-related or disability benefits were ready to work if the right job or support was available.

Kendall has indicated the scheme will be introduced at the same time as the welfare reform bill.