What the Government’s welfare proposals mean and why we’re against them

Published on 04 April 2025

The Government recently announced its plan to implement over £5bn worth of cuts to disability benefits. These are benefits many autistic people rely on. They cover some of the additional costs of being disabled – regardless of your ability to work – and are also a vital source of income for those who cannot work.

Below we’ve outlined details about what the Government is proposing, and what we think the impact on autistic people is likely to be.

What are the changes?

The Government is proposing multiple changes to the welfare system, including the following:

Personal Independence Payments (PIP) eligibility

Currently, you must score a total of eight points combined across the categories for the Basic Rate of PIP, or twelve points across the categories for the Enhanced Rate.

The Government’s changes mean that, as well as meeting this minimum number of points, at least one of your answers in one of the categories must be worth four points or more.

If your disability affects you in multiple areas of daily living in ways that score 2 or 3 points, you will no longer be eligible for PIP once these changes are implemented.

You can see the template that is used to calculate PIP eligibility here.

When will these changes happen? April 2026 for new claimants or during first reassessment after April 2026 for existing claimants.

Will disabled people be consulted? No. There will be a vote in parliament, so MPs need to understand the impact of changes.

Limited Capacity for Work-Related Activity (LCRWA) + Univeral Credit-Health (UC-Health)

If you are assessed as having limited capacity for work-related activity (LCWRA) you will be eligible to claim an element of Universal Credit called UC-Health. This will be the same amount as the current LCWRA payment - £97/week in 2024/25. It will then drop to £47/week for new claimants in 2026/27.

The government has guaranteed that no-one who has LCWRA prior to April 2026 and remains LCWRA following reassessment will see their UC-health entitlement changed. You will continue to receive the £97 allowance rate.

When with these changes happen? 2026/27

Will disabled people be consulted? No. There will be a vote in parliament, so MPs need to understand the impact of changes.

Right to Try Work

If you are in receipt of benefits such as Universal Credit or UC-Health, you will now be able to trial work without risking losing your benefits. If you try to work, and need to stop within six months, you will be able to go back to your normal payments without needing to reapply or be re-assessed.

If you are in receipt of UC-Health, you will be able to earn up to £404/month (or £673 if you do not receive Housing UC) without changes to your benefits.

For this to really benefit autistic people, we want the government to outline clear plans for supported apprenticeships, pathways into work, and investment in improved autism understanding for job coaches and employers.

When will these changes happen? 2026/2027

Will disabled people be consulted? Yes. The first question of this consultation is about what steps the DWP can take to make it easier for benefit claimants to try work without losing their benefits.

PIP & Work Capability Assessments

The government is proposing to get rid of Work Capability Assessments (WCA) and replace this assessment with the new PIP assessment from 2028. If you are undergoing WCA and PIP assessments, this will mean fewer duplicate appointments for you.

This also means that if you’re no longer eligible for PIP, you may not have access to a range of important concessions such as premiums on your housing benefit or pension credit, council tax discounts, caps on utility bills or support with travel such as disability railcards or a Blue Badge. The government is yet to make clear what pathways will be available for previous PIP claimants to maintain these concessions.

PIP Assessment Review

The Government has said there will be a review of the assessment process for PIP. This consultation will allow individuals and organisations to give their feedback on how PIP assessments are carried out and how often, as well as experiences with PIP phone calls and in person assessments. It will not include a review of PIP eligibility criteria.

When with these changes happen? Government has yet to confirm

Will disabled people be consulted? Yes. A consultation paper will be published and people will be asked to respond.

UC-Health for Under-22s

The government’s Green Paper proposes that the UC-Health entitlement will not be available to young people under the age of 22. If this proposal goes through, young people who would previously have been assessed as LCWRA will not be able to access the UC-health payment.

When with these changes happen? 2027/28

Will disabled people be consulted? Yes. Question 11 in this consultation asks whether the DWP should delay access to UC-Health until a claimant is 22.

Our Views

Since the Government has announced these changes, lots of autistic people have been getting in touch with the National Autistic Society and are, understandably, really fearful. We are too.

Mel Merritt, Head of Policy and Campaigns at the National Autistic Society said: “Even on the Government’s own maths, the impact of these cuts on disabled people will be huge, with one in five households with a disabled person ending up worse off by an average of £1,720. By 2030, 250,000 people and 50,000 children will be pushed into poverty.

"Many autistic people rely on disability benefits for the basic costs of day-to-day living, with only three in ten autistic people in work and facing a 28% pay gap from non-disabled workers. We are calling on the Government to remove barriers that prevent autistic people who want to work from working, while making sure those who can’t work aren’t penalised.

"We were fearful when these announcements were first made. Now the Government own assessment confirms that disabled people will lose out because of these reforms."

For autistic people that can and want to work, there are multiple barriers to employment that Government reforms are yet to address in detail and while the Government is consulting on some of the welfare proposals, the most damaging proposals including changes to PIP eligibility and cuts in the amount of disability benefit claimants can receive, are not being consulted on. This is deeply concerning. as changes to eligibility are likely to particularly impact autistic people and those with learning disabilities who often require low to moderate levels of support across multiple assessment areas.

If the age at which a young person becomes eligible for certain disability benefits rises, young disabled people who already struggle with daily living costs and the complex transition from Disability LA to PIP will be further penalised.

Almost half of families in poverty include someone who is disabled, taking away benefits will see hundreds of thousands more disabled people pushed in poverty.

What are we doing to stand up against the cuts?

We will be responding to the Government’s consultation and encourage anyone who will be affected by these changes to do so themselves. We will be campaigning to fight these reforms on multiple fronts, as an organisation and in coalition with other charities.

We will work to make sure that the Government listens to the views of autistic people and their families on this issue, sharing autistic people’s stories and the adverse impact these proposals will have with parliamentarians ahead of any vote on the changes

We will be asking for your help to send a strong and united message so please look out for upcoming campaigning opportunities and actions and sign up to receive campaigner updates here.

How to contribute to the consultation

If you would like to make your own submission to the government’s consultation on these changes, you can do so here: Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working

You might find it easier to draft your answers in a separate document and then copy and paste them into the form. You do not need to answer every question.

It is important that you do not include your personal information (such as your name, age or address) when you are completing the questions. There will be a separate section at the end of the form where you can complete your details.

The full list of consultation questions can be found on Page 72-73 of this document.

The government has not yet released accessible versions of the consultation. When they do so, those versions will be available here.

Further Information

Links to stuff on our and other websites

For those of you who are understandably concerned, advice and support is available:

For an easy read explainer of the reforms – see Mencap’s summary here and see Scope's summary here.

You can read the letter to the Chancellor from disability charities here: The cost of cuts to disability benefits: Our open letter to the Chancellor | Disability charity Scope UK