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PIP and Disability Benefit Reforms 2025 – A Summary of Changes Announced Today
Written by
Sam Cleasby
Published on
March 18, 2025
We have been waiting with baited breath and scared by the guesswork and titbits that have been released into the press, but in the past hour, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has announced her plans for benefits reform and we will try to explain those changes for you.
Charles Gillies, policy co-chair at the Disability Benefits Consortium, an umbrella body representing more than 100 charities and organisations said:
These immoral and devastating benefits cuts will push more disabled people into poverty, and worsen people’s health… Any targeted cuts to disabled people on universal credit and employment and support allowance will largely hit those who are unable to work and rely on these benefits to survive. We are united in urging the government to abandon these cruel cuts.
PIP – No Vouchers, No Freeze and No Means-Testing
Kendall said that at the current rate of more than 1,000 new PIP awards every day, the system is not sustainable long term.
I can announce this government will not bring in the Tory proposals for vouchers, because disabled people should have choice and control over their lives.
We will not means test PIP because disabled people deserve extra support, whatever their incomes.
And I can confirm we will not freeze PIP either.
Liz Kendall, 18 March 2025
PIP Points Changes
She went on to say that the reforms will focus support on those with the “greatest needs” meaning that you will need to score at least 4 points in at least one category to qualify for the daily living element of PIP from November 2026. This will not affect the mobility component of PIP and only relates to the daily living element. Anela Anwar, chief executive of anti-poverty charity Z2K accused the government of implementing “shocking and dangerous proposals”.
You can look through your PIP assessment letter to see how you scored in different activities and how this could affect you in the future.
This will effect a lot of people who score enough to claim the standard daily living on an overall basis, for example if you score 2 points on all the areas, under these plans, you would not be able to claim PIP daily living component unless the scale and descriptors are to change as well.
If you look at Dressing and Undressing for example, if you scored points for any of the following descriptors, you would not be able to claim PIP as you score less than 4 points in this one category (though obviously you may score 4 points in another category.
a. Can dress and undress unaided 0 points
b. Needs to use an aid or appliance to be able to dress or undress 2 points
c. Needs either -(i) prompting to be able to dress, undress or determine appropriate circumstances for remaining clothed; or (ii) prompting or assistance to be able to select appropriate clothing 2 points
d. Needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their lower body 2 points
You would only be able to claim if you score on either of these descriptors:
e. Needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their upper body 4 points
f. Cannot dress or undress at all 8 points
This wording of those most at need would exclude many people who have enormous needs, we would not describe somebody who needs assistance to be able to dress or undress their lower body is a disabled person who doesn’t need and deserve support.
We think that people with mental health struggles will be particularly affected, as do the mental health charity, Mind.
Mental health problems are not a choice – but it is a political choice to make it harder for people to access the support they need to live with dignity and independence. These reforms will only serve to deepen the nation’s mental health crisis.
Sarah Hughes, chief executive at Mind
PIP Assessments Reviewed
Kendall announced that the government will launch a review of the PIP assessment in close consultation with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, and other experts, “so we make sure PIP and the assessment process is fit for purpose now and into the future.”
Consultation on Merging JSA and ESA Benefits
Kendall says the government wants to help more employers offer support for disabled workers, including through reasonable adjustments and the government is going to consult on a new benefit.
Our green paper will consult on a major reform of contributory benefits, merging contributions-based job seeker’s allowance and employment support allowance into a new time-limited unemployment insurance, paid at a higher rate, without having to prove you cannot work in order to get it. So if you have paid into the system, you’ll get stronger income protection while we help you get back on track.
Liz Kendall, 18 March 2025
WCA to be Scrapped, PIP Assessment Process Used Instead
Kendall says the government will scrap the Work Capability Assessments in 2028.
In future, extra financial support for health conditions in universal credit will be available solely through the PIP (personal independence payment) assessment. So extra income is based on the impact of someone’s health condition or disability, not on their capacity to work, reducing the number of assessments that people have to go through and a vital step towards de-risking work.
Liz Kendall, 18 March 2025
UC Payments Changed
Kendall says the current universal credit system creates “perverse financial incentives”, because people out of work who say they are too sick to work get paid a lot more than other people out of work.
We will legislate to rebalance the payments in universal credit from April next year, holding the value of the health top-up fixed in cash terms for existing claimants, and reducing it for new claimants, with an additional premium for people with severe lifelong conditions that mean that they will never work to give them the financial security they deserve.
We will bring in a permanent above-inflation rise to the standard allowance in universal credit for the first time ever, a £775 annual increase in cash terms by 2029-30 and a decisive step to tackle the perverse incentives in the system.
Liz Kendall, 18 March 2025
Reassessments for People on Universal Credit with Health Top-ups Increased
Kendall says the government will increase the reassessments for people getting universal credit with a health-top up. More face to face assessments and ensuring they are recorded as standard.
Universal Credit Claimants with Most Severe Disabilities will not face reassessment
Kendall said people on universal credit with the most severe disabilities would not face reassessment “to give them the confidence and dignity they deserve.”
Scope
The biggest cuts to disability benefits on record should shame the government to its core. They are choosing to penalise some of the poorest people in our society. Almost half of families in poverty include someone who is disabled.
James Taylor, executive director of strategy at Scope
Life costs more if you are disabled. Ripping £5bn out of the system by 2030 will be a catastrophe for disabled peoples’ living standards and independence.
We have a whole range of guides on PIP and other disability benefits, and we will update you and them as and when things change. You can look through some of out guides on PIP below:
How to Apply for PIP
How to Appeal a PIP Decision
How are PIP Points Given? Understanding PIP Descriptors
