Overview
- Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to keep the state pension 'triple lock' until April 2030 and then replace the annual earnings element with a mechanism that limits long‑term cost growth, a move the government says will lower future pension bills.
- Ministers are developing options to remove or cut the Universal Credit health element for claimants under 25 and are considering applying that change to current recipients while protecting those with the most severe disabilities.
- Whitehall officials are also exploring wider disability reforms, including changes to Personal Independence Payment rules and Motability support, as part of plans to redirect welfare spending into a multibillion‑pound employment support package.
- The proposals are presented as funding for a national care service and intensive back‑to‑work help, but they have drawn criticism from Labour backbenchers, charities and disability groups who warn cuts could deepen poverty and block access to work.
- Policy and fiscal context shaping the plans include a rapidly rising benefits bill, a near‑1 million youth non‑employment problem, and two official reviews by Alan Milburn (youth employment) and Sir Stephen Timms (PIP) that ministers say they will not pre‑empt.