UC Health support for new claimants to halve from April 2026

People who develop a disability or health condition and claim Universal Credit from April 2026 will receive £54 a week through the health element, compared with £105 a week for someone with the same impairment or condition in March 2026, the Work and Pensions Committee said on 24 October 2025¹.

The Committee published the Government's response to its Get Britain Working: Pathways to work report, which was published in July 2025 and had called for the reforms to UC Health to be delayed until the full impact on people with health conditions was understood¹. In its July report the Committee said that under the planned reforms, from April 2026, existing claimants and new claimants with severe or terminal conditions would be protected, but other claimants assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity would see their awards halved from £423.27 to £217.26².

Committee Chair Debbie Abrahams said:

The Committee also said the Government's own analysis, published in March 2025, indicated that from the following April approximately 50,000 people who develop a health condition or become disabled, and those who live with them, would enter poverty by 2030 as a result of the reduction in support². It 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 conditions². The Committee asked the Secretary of State why an assessment of safeguarding risks had not been conducted before the Green Paper was published².

The Government dropped all its Personal Independence Payment proposals and agreed to co-produce a new PIP assessment process with disabled people and their organisations in a review led by Sir Stephen Timms, the Committee said². Abrahams said the Committee recognised the compromises the Government made during the passage of the Universal Credit-PIP Bill, now the Universal Credit Act¹. She also cited an analysis estimating that up to £12.5bn could be saved in DWP spending from reduced Universal Credit health claims and boosted tax receipts before the end of the decade if the DWP focused on better, more personalised employment and health support¹.

Separately, the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025 confirmed that the two-child limit in the child element of Universal Credit would be removed from April 2026, at a cost of around £2.4bn in 2026/27 rising to £3.2bn in 2030/31, with the Government estimating the measure would lift 450,000 children out of poverty³. In Northern Ireland the change is subject to Assembly approval of a Legislative Consent Motion and would take effect for assessment periods beginning on or after 6 April 2026⁴. Families affected by the two-child limit currently lose £292.81 per month per child, rising to £303.94 under the proposed uprating from 6 April 2026⁴.

Why it matters for households

The £54 and £105 figures apply to the health element of Universal Credit, which is paid on top of the standard allowance to claimants assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity. The lower rate applies to people making a new claim from April 2026; the Committee states that existing claimants and new claimants with severe or terminal conditions are protected². The Committee's figures indicate the difference between the two groups is £51 a week, or £423.27 against £217.26 a month for the wider group of claimants assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity¹.

The Committee's estimate of 50,000 people entering poverty by 2030 covers claimants and those who live with them². The Committee has not reported how the severe condition criteria will be defined, and it says it is unclear whether serious mental health conditions and fluctuating conditions will fall within them². No figure has been reported for how many new claimants will receive £54 rather than £105.

The removal of the two-child limit is a separate change affecting families with three or more children, worth £303.94 per month per child from 6 April 2026 under the proposed uprating⁴. In Northern Ireland, Advice NI has estimated that the additional cost to the Benefit Cap mitigation scheme could range from £2m to £12.7m, because extra child element entitlement counts towards the cap⁴. The Benefit Cap limits benefit for couples and households with children to £22,020 a year and for single people without children to £14,753⁴.

What happens next

The UC Health changes take effect from April 2026¹. The two-child limit is removed from April 2026, and in Northern Ireland from assessment periods beginning on or after 6 April 2026 subject to Assembly approval³. The Committee has repeated its call to delay the UC Health cuts until the full impact is better understood; the Government's response to that call is set out in the response published on 24 October 2025¹.