The government’s welfare bill has been altered as prime minister Keir Starmer sets out to gain the backing of more than 120 Labour rebels who had threatened to vote against it next week.
The original plans, announced in March, would have seen tighter eligibility criteria for personal independence payments from November 2026, potentially resulting in reduced payments for many people, the scrapping of work capability assessments for incapacity benefits from 2028, and a freeze on incapacity benefits under universal credit at £97 a week reducing to £50 a week for new claimants. People aged under 22 would no longer be able to claim incapacity benefit top-ups on universal credit.
The changes to PIP, the main disability benefit in England, had caused the most upset among MPs planning to rebel.
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall, wrote to Labour MPs on Thursday night to lay out concessions, which include exempting everyone currently receiving disability benefits from the changes and increasing the health element of universal credit in line with inflation.
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Kendall said she would bring forward a review into the personal independence payment (PIP) system and increase the amount of money to be spent on back-to-work schemes. However, the new qualifying requirements will be implemented from November 2026 for new claims.
For Michelle Carson, chairwoman and founder of executive search, consultants and coaching firm Holmes Noble the government’s U-turn could not come soon enough and was “almost” a welcome step. She described the proposed reforms as “a dangerous false economy”, which risked harming not only disabled people, “but also the long-term resilience of the UK workforce”.
She said that over 30 years in recruitment and 25 in executive search, she had focused on building more inclusive pathways to leadership and had witnessed “how the right support enables disabled professionals not just to work, but to thrive. Cutting that support through tighter personal independence payment rules and reductions to the sickness element of universal credit risks undermining that progress.”
Carson refuted ministers’ claim that these changes would help more people into work. She said that according to the government’s own impact assessment, 800,000 people would be projected to lose PIP by 2029-30 under the reforms, with just 60,000 to 105,000 expected to move into employment as a result (DWP, 2024).
Disabled people are colleagues, leaders, and contributors and we deserve better” – Michelle Carson, Holmes Noble
“Let’s put that in context,” said Carson. “Between 2017 and 2022, 1.3 million more disabled people entered work, an average of 260,000 per year, without slashing benefits. Now, the government plans to remove support from 800,000 people to achieve a six-year gain of less than half that. That’s not progress. It’s policy failure – and it treats disabled people as expendable.”
Carson pointed out that “these benefits aren’t passive income, they fund essentials like accessible transport, personal care support, assistive technology, or communication assistance”.
Without them, she added employers could face higher absences, turnover, and lost productivity, not to mention forcing disabled professionals out of roles they are thriving in.
She said that disabled people already contributed more than £150 billion a year in gross value added to the UK economy.
“I say this not just as a business leader, but as an autistic person who has built a career despite systems that weren’t designed with people like me in mind. Disabled people are colleagues, leaders, and contributors and we deserve better,” said Carson.
The original purpose of the bill was to shave £5bn off the welfare budget by 2030 and tackle the rising numbers of people who are economically inactive. MPs have agreed that reform was needed but have become increasingly concerned with the impact on disabled people.
Initially, more than 120 Labour MPs had signed a “reasoned amendment” calling for the changes to be delayed while disabled people were consulted on.
Dame Meg Hillier, the chair of the Treasury select committee who tabled the amendment, said last night that the government had offered a “good deal”.
On the change of tack, Carson said: “The U-turn is almost a welcome step, the staggered approach offers a degree of reassurance to current recipients.
“It’s also encouraging to see that the revised criteria will be developed in consultation with disability charities, ensuring lived experience informs the process.
“However, I fundamentally disagree with the decision to apply these changes to new claimants. Support should be available to all disabled people — enabling them to work and live independently — regardless of when they apply for assistance. There’s still a lack of clarity around how the new scoring will be applied in practice, and I hope Tuesday’s announcement provides the detail that’s urgently needed.”
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