{"id":124498,"date":"2026-08-19T11:46:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T10:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/?p=124498"},"modified":"2026-08-19T11:28:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T10:28:55","slug":"millions-welfare-changes-pip-cash-payments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/millions-welfare-changes-pip-cash-payments\/","title":{"rendered":"Millions Face Welfare Changes as PIP Cash Payments Could Be Replaced"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Under the proposals reported by the Birmingham Mail, an estimated 2.89 million PIP and UC health claimants would eventually lose their entitlement, representing around half of the current 4.5 million. Those who remained eligible, including people in non-severe cases, could receive support through local Disability Support Accounts<\/strong> rather than direct cash payments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reform Says the Welfare Changes Would Cut Spending by Billions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

According to the Birmingham Mail, Reform proposes that councils would administer Disability Support Accounts, or DSAs, which would reimburse claimants <\/a>for approved expenses<\/strong> instead of providing conventional cash benefits. The arrangement would apply to people who continued to qualify under the party\u2019s proposed welfare system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reform Treasury spokesperson Robert Jenrick<\/a> said the package would produce net savings of \u00a350 billion by 2030, which he described as equivalent to \u00a31,700 per family. He said the money could be returned through lower taxes while also supporting commitments including defence and national investment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jenrick also argued that the proposals were intended to alter the purpose of the welfare system, not simply reduce spending. He said it should focus on helping people return to employment rather than, in his words, \u201cpaying people to stay out of the workforce\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the system should support recovery where possible instead of treating an expanding range of health conditions as grounds for permanent dependence. Jenrick also argued that welfare should operate as a reciprocal obligation of British citizenship rather than becoming an automatic entitlement<\/strong> for anyone who obtains the relevant immigration status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Reform welfare plan would replace PIP cash with council-approved expenses \u00a9Shutterstock<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Reform spokesperson criticised previous governments, saying parties of different political colours had overseen the expansion of the welfare state. He said Reform had both the willingness and a plan to change it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disability Groups and Labour Warn of Poverty and Hardship<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The proposals have drawn strong criticism from campaigners, disability organisations and Labour. According to the Birmingham Mail, campaigners described the measures as \u201ccruel and dangerous\u201d, while an official from a poverty charity warned they would cause \u201chorrific levels of destitution and hardship\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Labour source said Reform\u2019s proposals <\/strong>would damage the welfare safety net relied upon by millions of people during difficult periods. The source argued that, rather than securing the welfare system for the future, the measures would undermine it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Disability Benefits Consortium<\/a>, which represents more than 100 charities, said the proposals would \u201cvastly increase poverty and worsen people\u2019s health\u201d. According to the report, the organisation said millions of disabled people could lose disability benefits<\/strong>, including people living with multiple sclerosis. Disability Rights UK<\/a> said Reform\u2019s approach showed a failure to understand the role disability benefits play in disabled people\u2019s lives, describing that failure as \u201cutterly breathtaking\u201d. Scope also criticised the proposals, accusing Reform of \u201cpushing disabled people into poverty and calling it compassion\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The dispute sets Reform\u2019s stated aim of cutting welfare spending and reshaping employment support against warnings from charities and political opponents that the changes would remove financial support from large numbers of disabled and ill claimants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reform\u2019s welfare proposals could see cash payments for some Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit health claimants replaced by council-run accounts that reimburse approved expenses. The plan forms part of a wider package that the party says would reduce Department for Work and Pensions spending.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":124501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-124498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-welfare","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124498"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124498\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":124509,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124498\/revisions\/124509"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.econostrum.info\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}