Reform UK has set out plans to scrap Personal Independence Payment (PIP) for working-age adults as part of a major overhaul of the benefits system. Under the proposals, PIP and the health element of Universal Credit would be abolished for working-age claimants and replaced with a new system of financial support.
Millions of claimants affected
Reform estimates that 2.89 million existing disability and sickness benefit claimants would have their payments modified or withdrawn under the plans. A further 2.16 million people would retain their current cash entitlement in full.
However, the proposals are not a change to the current benefits system and would only be introduced if Reform UK formed a government. Full details of the party's welfare proposals are due to be unveiled later on Monday.
New benefits proposed
Reform Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said existing claimants would be reassessed over a period of three to four years. The party estimates changes to disability benefits could eventually save £22 billion a year as part of wider proposals it claims would reduce the welfare bill by more than £50 billion annually.
Under Reform's proposals, a new benefit called the ‘Health Security Allowance’ would provide financial support for people the party describes as "gravely ill and severely challenged". Awards would be subject to regular reviews.
Meanwhile, cash payments for what Reform describes as "low-level conditions" would end. Instead, people in this group could receive support through new ‘Disability Support Accounts’ administered by local councils and mayors. The accounts could be used to meet specific disability-related costs including equipment, adaptations, transport and personal assistance.
Reassessments and employer responsibilities
Reform said existing disability and sickness benefit claimants would be reassessed over three to four years rather than having their current awards immediately removed. Jenrick said: "We will not pretend this is painless."
He said Reform estimates 2.16 million people would retain their current cash entitlement in full, while 2.89 million would have their entitlement "modified or withdrawn". Jenrick said there are currently 6.9 million people receiving disability benefits and argued that growth in claims for mental health and behavioural conditions showed the welfare system needed reform.
Reform is also proposing major changes to the way people who become unable to work through ill health are supported. Employers could be required to pay for "return to work cover" insurance to fund support during the first two years after an employee is signed off sick. People who had not returned to work after two years would undergo a single in-person assessment under the proposed system. Jenrick said the assessment would be designed to identify fraudulent and what he described as "vexatious" claims.
Reactions and next steps
Labour rejected Reform's projected savings and criticised the proposed changes to disability support. A Labour spokeswoman described the £50 billion savings estimate as "fantasy economics" and accused Reform of seeking savings by reducing support for disabled people and transferring costs to employers. She said the UK Government's own welfare reforms would deliver independently costed savings.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately also criticised Reform's proposals. She said the Conservatives would restore the two-child benefit cap, restrict benefits for what the party describes as low-level mental health conditions, remove benefit entitlement from foreign nationals and restore face-to-face assessments.
PIP has been replaced by Adult Disability Payment (ADP) for disabled people in Scotland following the devolution of disability benefits. Reform UK has not yet published full details setting out how its proposed overhaul of working-age disability benefits would affect people receiving devolved disability payments north of the border. The party's full welfare proposals are expected to be published later on Monday.
