The work and pensions secretary has insisted her planned overhaul to benefits rules will be fair, as Labour MPs wait for details of expected welfare cuts. Liz Kendall said the plans, to be published on Tuesday, would put rising benefits expenditure on a “sustainable footing”.
The government insists changes are required to reduce ballooning spending on health benefits, which are predicted to continue rising in the coming years. But the move has faced opposition with Labour ranks, and has already led charities to warn of the potential impact on vulnerable claimants.
Ministers have already abandoned plans for a one-year freeze to PIP payments, after disquiet from MPs. The proposals to be unveiled on Tuesday are the result of months of work to bear down on rising claims for health-related benefits in the wake of the Covid pandemic and ensure the system is not trapping some claimants out of work.
But they are being unveiled against the backdrop of worsening economic forecasts, which have increased the need to find savings to allow the government to meet its self-imposed rules on future borrowing and spending.
Ministers are expected to shelve plans not to raise personal independence payments (PIP), the main disability benefit in England and Wales, in line with inflation next year after pushback from within Labour. It is thought that instead the changes announced on Tuesday will now focus on eligibility for PIP, which recipients claim following an assessment to help meet daily living costs from long-term physical or mental health conditions.
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