Overview
- From April 2026, the Universal Credit health top‑up for new claims will be capped at £50 a week, with all current health‑element recipients protected and roughly 200,000 people meeting Severe Conditions Criteria exempt from reassessment.
- The Universal Credit Act 2025 guarantees that protected groups will see their combined standard allowance and health element increase at least in line with inflation from 2026/27 to 2029/30.
- The DWP has introduced a Right to Try Guarantee and says £3.8 billion will fund employment, health and skills support to help disabled and sick people move into work.
- Planned changes to Personal Independence Payment are on hold for a co‑produced assessment review led by Sir Stephen Timms, and PIP awards will continue to uprate annually with September CPI, with final rates confirmed at the Autumn Budget.
- Winter Fuel Payment letters go out in October to around nine million pensioners, with HMRC set to claw back awards from those over the £35,000 taxable‑income threshold that experts warn could exclude more than 100,000 next year.