Charities and health experts warn welfare cuts could cost lives
The Government will release an impact assessment indicating how many people will be hit by its benefits reforms.
Charities and health experts have warned welfare cuts could risk lives, as the Government prepared to publish an official impact assessment into how many people will be affected by its plans.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has described the current welfare system as “morally indefensible”, insisting Labour’s reforms will help those who can work to get jobs.
It is now expected further cuts to welfare will be announced as Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers her spring statement on Wednesday, after the budget watchdog said the Government’s plans will not save as much as ministers hoped.
The plans, announced last week, had been forecast by Government to cut £5 billion off the welfare bill but the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has assessed the changes to disability and incapacity benefits will instead save £3.4 billion in 2029/30.
The Times newspaper reported that, in an attempt to save a further £500 million, universal credit incapacity benefits for new claimants will now be frozen until 2030 rather than increased in line with inflation and there will also be a small reduction in the basic rate in 2029.
The plans as originally announced last week were met with criticism from charities as well as some of Labour’s own MPs.
Party veteran Diane Abbott said there was “nothing moral” about the plan and accused the Treasury of wishing to “balance the country’s books on the back of the most vulnerable and poor people in this society”.
A tightening of eligibility for the main disability benefit personal independence payment (Pip) and cut to the health element of universal credit (UC) have prompted stark warnings and calls for a rethink.
Changes to Pip are expected to account for the largest proportion of savings, with the Resolution Foundation think tank estimating this could see between 800,000 and 1.2 million people in England and Wales losing support of between £4,200 and £6,300 per year by the end of the decade.
An official impact assessment is expected to be published on Wednesday into the previously-announced changes.
Charities have reported a surge in calls and visits to their advice pages following last week’s announcement, which came after lengthy speculation about what might be in store.
Mental health charity Mind said its helpline advisers had reported that some people had indicated their level of worry was such that they felt they had “no choice but to end their own life”.
The charity’s welfare advice line saw calls rise from 90 the previous week to 182 last week, while other information and support lines received more than 2,540 calls, which was a 10% rise on the previous week.
Disability charity Scope said calls to its helpline on the day of the announcement had more than doubled to 344 from 118 the week earlier, while its online community saw 20,000 interactions on the day compared to 15,000 seven days before.
Citizens Advice saw views of its Pip advice pages rise to almost 80,000 views last week, which was a 44% rise from the week before.
Scope said people feel “abandoned by the Government”.
Meanwhile, a group of public health experts said further cuts to social security could lead to deaths.
Writing in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), they said the reforms, coming after years of austerity, would have a detrimental effect on already-vulnerable people.
One of the group, Professor Gerry McCartney – a specialist in wellbeing economy at the University of Glasgow, said: “There is now substantial evidence that cuts to social security since 2010 have fundamentally harmed the health of the UK population.
“Implementing yet more cuts will therefore result in more premature deaths. It is vital that the UK Government understands this evidence and takes a different policy approach.”
The Government has pledged to invest an additional £1 billion-a-year by 2029/2030 to help support people into work including through one-to-one help and said it will protect disabled people who will never be able to work by scrapping the need for them to have benefits reassessments.
