Sickness benefits bill ‘devastating’, Starmer says as he defends reforms

The rising sickness and disability benefits bill is “devastating” for the public finances and has “wreaked a terrible human cost”, Sir Keir Starmer said after his Government announced a £5 billion cut to welfare.

The Government on Tuesday announced a raft of welfare measures it says will help bring more working age people back into jobs, and which will save the taxpayer billions of pounds.

Among the most significant moves is the tightening of eligibility for personal independence payments (Pip), a benefit aimed at helping those with disability or long-term illness with increased living costs.

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to be affected by the changes to Pip eligibility, which are expected to account for the largest proportion of savings the Government hopes to make.

Elsewhere, ministers will scrap the work capability assessment for universal credit, the test of whether someone can get incapacity benefit payments based on their fitness for work.

This will be replaced by 2028 with a single assessment considering the impact a person’s disability has on daily living, rather than their fitness to work.

Writing in The Times newspaper, Sir Keir pointed to the 2.8 million working age people out of work due to long-term sickness, claiming this was a “damning indictment of the Conservative record” on welfare.

The Prime Minister added: “The result is devastating for the public finances. By 2030 we are projected to spend £70 billion a year on working-age incapacity and disability benefits alone.

“But more importantly it has wreaked a terrible human cost. Young people shut out of the labour market at a formative age. People with complex long-term conditions, written off by a single assessment.

“People who want to return to work, yet can’t access the support they need. All this is happening at scale and it is indefensible.”

Among other measures to be taken by the Government are:

– An above-inflation rise in the standard allowance for universal credit by 2029/30 – adding £775 in cash terms annually. But new claims from April 2026 will see the rate of the health element almost cut in half, from £97 a week to £50, and those already claiming having their amount frozen at £97 per week until 2029/2030.

– Consulting on delaying access to the health top-up in universal credit until someone is 22 years old “so every young person is earning or learning, and on a pathway to success”, and on raising the age at which young people move from disability living allowance for children to adult disability benefit (Pip), from 16 to 18.

– Legislating for a so-called “right to try”, which Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall said would ensure people are able to “take the plunge and try work – without the fear this will put their benefits at risk”.

As part of its reforms, the Government also said it will invest an additional £1 billion a year by 2029/2030 to help support people into work, including through one-to-one help.

The announcement was met with criticism from Labour backbenchers, unions and charities.

Among those who spoke out in the Commons was Labour MP Debbie Abrahams, chairwoman of the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, who suggested “there are alternative, more compassionate ways to balance the books rather than on the back of sick and disabled people”.