Overview

• The Work and Pensions Committee has formally called for postponing the April 2026 cut to the limited capability for work health element until its impact on poverty, health and employment is independently assessed
• New claimants deemed as having limited capability for work will see their health element halved from £423.27 to £217.26 per month, while existing claimants and those with severe or terminal conditions are legally protected
• Government analysis projects that about 50,000 people who develop a health condition or become disabled will enter poverty by 2030 due to the reduced health premium
• Disability campaigners warn the new “severe conditions” criteria could exclude those with degenerative or fluctuating illnesses such as Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia
• The government maintains its welfare reforms will save £5 billion annually, lift 50,000 children out of poverty and bolster support into work with a £3.8 billion employment package