US Edition
Welfare reforms aimed at encouraging more people into work could save as much as £4bn in a boost for Jeremy Hunt as he prepares for the Autumn Statement.
Under proposals currently under consultation that are likely to be confirmed in the Chancellor’s fiscal update next week, it will become harder for people to claim disability benefits and more new claimants will be required to show they are trying to find a job.
The changes to the Work Capability Assessment may leave some recipients on universal credit alone, rather than receiving an additional £390 per month.
The changes are expected to save the Government as much as £4bn over four years, in a development first reported by the BBC.
The savings would come at a vital time for the Chancellor, as he plans his Autumn Statement against a backdrop of extremely tight public finances.
Mr Hunt has promised to do more to encourage people into work rather than staying on benefits. 2.6 million people of working age are currently classed as economically inactive – neither in work, nor looking for work – citing long-term sickness as the cause.
It is feared that this is holding back the economy, which is struggling to grow as employers labour to fill almost 1 million vacancies.
The Department for Work and Pensions opened a consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment in September, which ran until the end of October.
When setting out its proposed reforms, the Department for Work and Pensions said: “Being in suitable work is good for people’s physical and mental health, wellbeing, and financial security. However, too many disabled people and people with health conditions are stuck on incapacity benefits, without the support they need to access work.”
It argued that guidelines set out a decade ago are no longer suitable at a time when more jobs can be performed flexibly and a larger share of the population can work from home, making it easier for people in poor health to find employment.
It is understood that the aim is to apply the changes to new claimants as the scheme is phased in, rather than those already in receipt of the cash.
A spokesman from the Department for Work and Pensions said the consultation responses are still being assessed, so reports of a final decision on Work Capability Assessments are “purely speculation”.
The spokesman said: “The structural reforms set out in the Health and Disability White Paper, which will improve the experience of the benefits system for disabled people, will be rolled out gradually from 2026 and transitional protection will ensure nobody experiences a financial loss as a result of moving onto the new system.”