Overview

• Ministers have stalled planned Personal Independence Payment eligibility changes for existing claimants and commissioned a co-produced review due at the end of 2026 that will defer any new rules until at least 2027.
• Revised PIP criteria requiring applicants to score at least four points in one activity will apply only to new claimants, creating a two-tier system that leaves current recipients unaffected.
• Six Universal Credit measures will take effect from April 2026, featuring a halved health element for new claimants alongside the first permanent real-terms rise in the standard allowance since 1980.
• The UC overhaul also introduces a Right to Try Guarantee, exempts 200,000 claimants with severe conditions from reassessment and allocates £3.8 billion for tailored employment support.
• Sustained pushback from disability charities, campaigners and over 100 Labour MPs secured full public consultation commitments and protections for existing benefit recipients.