Committee writes to Secretary of State calling for pause of UC health and PIP reforms

The Work and Pensions Committee wrote to the Secretary of State in May calling for a pause of the planned reforms to UC health and Personal Independence Payments (PIP), and for PIP policy to be co-produced with disabled people¹. The committee's Pathways to Work report, published on 29 July 2025, repeated calls to delay planned cuts in UC health reform until the full impact of the changes is better understood¹.

Under the planned reforms to UC health, from April 2026, claimants assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity will see their awards halved from £423.27 to £217.26¹. All existing claimants and new claimants with severe or terminal conditions will be protected¹. The change forms part of the Government's drive to get more people off welfare and into work, as set out in its Pathways to Work Green Paper¹.

The committee said the Government's own analysis, published in March, indicates that from next April approximately 50,000 people who develop a health condition or become disabled, and those who live with them, will enter poverty by 2030 as a result of the reduction in support of the UC health premium¹. MPs raised concerns that some conditions, particularly serious mental health conditions, might not be included under the severe condition criteria, and that this also applies to people with fluctuating conditions¹. The committee also asked the Secretary of State why an assessment of safeguarding risks had not been conducted before the Green Paper was published¹.

The Government subsequently dropped all the PIP proposals and agreed to co-produce a new PIP assessment process with disabled people and their organisations in a review led by Sir Stephen Timms¹.

Why it matters for households

The reduction applies to the health component of Universal Credit for claimants assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity, and takes effect from April 2026¹. Existing claimants at that point, and new claimants with severe or terminal conditions, are protected from the cut¹. For those not covered by the protections, the award falls from £423.27 to £217.26, a reduction of £206.01¹.

The committee's concern is that the severe condition criteria may not capture some conditions, particularly serious mental health conditions, or people with fluctuating conditions, leaving them outside the protection¹. It also questioned why a safeguarding risk assessment was not carried out before the Green Paper was published¹. The Government's March analysis, as cited by the committee, puts the number of people who develop a health condition or become disabled, and those who live with them, entering poverty by 2030 at approximately 50,000¹.

Attendance Allowance, which is for people over State Pension age, is a separate benefit and is not part of these changes as reported¹.

What happens next

The committee has recommended delaying the cuts to the UC health premium, noting that other policies such as additional NHS capacity, employment support, or labour market changes to help people stay in work have yet to materialise¹. The PIP proposals have been dropped, with a new assessment process to be co-produced with disabled people and their organisations in a review led by Sir Stephen Timms¹. No date has been reported for a Government response to the committee's recommendation to delay the UC health cuts¹.