At the time of writing, the proposals discussed are not in effect. There are no immediate changes to your benefits.
A note on language used: We recognise the complexity of framing social security/welfare payments as “benefits”. They are not add-ons but instead life-saving care that people should be entitled to. Nonetheless, we use the language of Disability “benefits” here, as it is the most recognisable, not because we agree with it as a framing.
The Government has announced proposals to reform welfare payments for Disabled people, including those living with mental ill-health, distress, and trauma.
NSUN is appalled by these proposals, which are already causing much distress. They will worsen Disabled people’s living conditions, push more people into poverty, and exacerbate the harms of a welfare system that is already killing people. We know that these proposals will cause more deaths.
These proposed reforms use Disabled people as scapegoats for decades of government cuts which have made us sicker and reduced our access to adequate healthcare and public services. They are based on stigmatising and inaccurate reasoning about the supposed economic burden of Disabled lives, and generalisations about the benefits of work.
If implemented, the reforms would be disastrous for Disabled people, including those living with mental ill-health, distress, or trauma. The Government’s own impact assessment estimated that 3.2 million families would be impacted, expecting the cuts to push 250,000 more people into poverty. That figure includes 50,000 children. A subsequent analysis by New Economics Foundation shows how the Government has significantly underplayed the impact; estimating that the true number of people who will be pushed into poverty is 340,000. The Government has provided no estimates on how many Disabled people will return to work as a result of the reforms.
Pushing more people into poverty will worsen people’s physical and mental health. In turn, it will increase demand on our already-struggling NHS. Our health service cannot and should not have to deal with the fallout from these cruel proposals.
These reforms are a political choice: the Government is choosing to save money by cutting life-saving support for Disabled people. In the same statement which announced further welfare cuts, the Government celebrated its increase on military spending; some of which likely makes this government legally complicit in genocide. There is also a refusal to implement a wealth-tax on the super-rich, which could be another way of creating money for public spending.
In this article we:
- Answer some FAQs about where these reforms have come from, and what the process will be for them to come into effect.
- Explain what the key reforms are, including how they will impact those living with mental ill-health specifically.
- Outline actions you can take.
- Emphasise our position: these reforms will seriously harm, if not kill, people. We will continue to oppose them.
FAQs
Who has proposed these reforms?
These reforms have been proposed by the Government, specifically, the Department for Work and Pensions, which is a subgroup of the Government responsible for work and the social security (benefits) system.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is led by an MP called Liz Kendall, who is the head of the DWP. This role is called the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. It is the DWP who developed and published the Pathways to Work Green Paper (18th March 2025), which outlines the majority of proposed welfare reforms.
Further reforms were also announced by an MP called Rachel Reeves. She is in government in the role of Chancellor of the Exchequer (the Chancellor). The Chancellor is head of HM Treasury, the Government department responsible for money. As Chancellor, Reeves is responsible for setting the country’s budget, deciding how money gets spent and what we can afford. Reeves announced some additional welfare reforms in her Spring Statement (26th March 2025). The Spring Statement is a chance for the Government to outline what their budgeting plans are.
What is a White/Green paper?
These documents outline the Government’s intentions, the differences between them are about the level of detail they contain.
A White paper is a fairly broad document, often outlining general intentions and the reasons why the Government thinks change needs to happen.
A Green paper is more detailed, outlining the exact changes the Government would like to happen, including how they might be implemented and in what timeframe.
Neither type of document is legally binding, and neither takes immediate effect.
What is the difference between government and parliament, and what is their role in these reforms?
The UK is run by three different bodies: the Executive (The Government/Cabinet), the Legislature (Parliament), and the Judiciary (Courts).
The Government: The Government is made up of the Prime Minister (leader of the winning party at a general election) and people they choose to form part of their cabinet. This group, led by the Prime Minister, makes decisions about how the country runs such as developing policies, setting budgets, and managing public services.
- These welfare reforms have been proposed by the Government. In order to pass the reforms, they will need to create/amend laws, which they can propose to Parliament. The Government cannot pass laws on their own. MPs must vote in favour of them.
Parliament: Parliament is made up of two “Houses”. The House of Commons is made up of elected officials (MPs) who are voted in at general elections. The second house is the House of Lords, who are unelected.
- Parliament is responsible for making laws (legislation). MPs and members of the House of Lords must vote in favour of these laws. These reforms require multiple pieces of legislation to be passed in order to come into effect.
- Many MPs have been vocal in their opposition to welfare and say they will vote against the reforms.
- One thing you can do is to write to your MP about the reforms. More information about how to do so is in the “Take Action” section, below.
The courts/judiciary: the courts are responsible for deciding how laws apply in specific circumstances. The courts are not currently involved in welfare reforms, but may play an important role in later stages. For example, the courts could decide:
- That proposed reforms and/or their effects would be illegal (they might breach human rights or constitute discrimination).
- That the process of the reforms is deemed unlawful (as the High Court ruled on the previous Conservative governments’ benefit assessment reforms).
International law/agreements might also be helpful later down the line. The UK has already been heavily criticised by the United Nations for failing to achieve agreements set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (though these rulings are not, currently, legally enforceable).
Where did these reforms come from?
These proposals follow on from the Get Britain Working White Paper, which the Government published in November 2024. We knew these proposals were coming, we just did not know how catastrophic they would be.
You can see our full analysis of the Get Britain Working White Paper here.
Are the reforms in effect?
Green Papers are not legally binding. It outlines what the Government would like to do, rather than what is actually happening/will happen.
The Pathways to Work Green Paper will now face a period of consultation. Some changes require new pieces of legislation which will need to be passed through parliament. Even if the relevant laws get passed, nothing will change at least until 2026.
The proposals and their impacts
The Government’s proposals are to change the welfare system, transforming it into a system that aims to “promote work and reduce economic inactivity”. As such, reforms are primarily based on reducing people’s access to welfare payments and forcing them into work instead.
We have not analysed every proposal in detail. Instead, we focus on the few we think might have the largest effect, and outline the remainder more briefly.
Make it harder to claim Personal Independence Payments (PIP) by changing the eligibility criteria by November 2026
- PIP is made up of two components:
1. The mobility component is for extra help people need getting around; this element is not affected.
2. The daily living component is for extra help people need with everyday tasks (such as washing, dressing, communication, and preparing food).
- PIP is currently awarded based on a scoring system, in which daily tasks are broken down into 12 activities. Applicants “score points” based on how much help they need performing a task. You can see the list of activities and points here.
- At the moment, you can accrue points across lots of different categories, provided you reach the minimum of 8 (for a standard allowance, or 12 points for the enhanced allowance).
- The Government is proposing that claimants will need to score at least 4 points in a single living activity to qualify for the daily living element, as well as scoring a total of at least 8 points.
- Any new rules will impact new claimants from November 2026. Existing claimants will only be impacted once reassessed.
- There will not be a consultation on these changes.
The impact of changing the PIP eligibility criteria will mean that:
- Many people with complex, fluctuating, or multi-faceted Disabilities will struggle to achieve 4 points in a single category. Many people will lose their benefits.
- Many people will be prevented from working. Many people rely on welfare payments, particularly PIP, in order to work. These reforms will therefore mean that many Disabled people are unable to work.
- Carers are also impacted. As more Disabled people are pushed into poverty and distress, carers will have to do more. This will prevent them from working too. By reducing the number of people able to claim PIP, carers’ benefits will also be cut. PIP is one of a set of benefits that a person has to claim for their carer to be able to receive carers allowance/the carer element of universal credit. 9% of carers are already in deep poverty, and the welfare system is already punitive to carers.
Scrap the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) for Universal Credit (UC) by 2028
- The “health element” of Universal Credit is an additional financial support component for those who have limited capacity for work due to a health condition or disability.
- Eligibility for the health element of UC is currently assessed through a Work Capability Assessment (WCA).
- The Government proposes to scrap the WCA, and will instead only give the health element to people who are eligIble for Personal Independence Payments (PIP).
The impact of scrapping the WCA will be:
- Only people who are eligible for the PIP daily living component will get the UC health element.
- However, the Government is also proposing to change the PIP assessment process and eligibility criteria, making it harder for people to get PIP. Therefore, fewer people will qualify for the health element.
- Scrapping the WCA and tightening the PIP assessment criteria has been called a “double whammy”. It has been calculated that those set to lose both the UC health element and PIP will lose at least £9,600 per year.
- It is not clear how the Government will change the PIP assessment process. There will be a separate “review” into this. The Government says we will know more about the review into the PIP assessment in the Autumn of 2025.
- More people will be plunged into poverty and despair, which exacerbate one another. There is already a long list of deaths by suicide related to the welfare system; this number will only increase.
Other proposals include:
- Limiting health-related welfare support for young people, including raising the age at which people are eligible to claim PIP from 16 to 18, and delaying access to the health element of Universal Credit until claimants turn 22.
- Slightly increasing the Universal Credit standard allowance.
- Freezing the Universal Credit health element by April 2026 (fixing it at £97/week until 2029/30). This benefit will not be increased in line with inflation until 2029/30.
- For new claimants, cutting the Universal Credit health element by 50% (£50/week).
- Other changes to welfare assessments such as bringing in more face-to-face assessments, recording assessments by default, and reducing initial PIP assessments for some people.
- Removing barriers to work so that people aren’t afraid to try work due to the threat of losing their benefits (this is called the “right to try”).
- Retaining the Mental Health Investment Standard for 25/6; presumably to help manage the mental health fall-out from proposals. While this announcement is a welcome start, even with the standard in place mental health spending has overall been falling, and will continue to do so.
How do the cuts apply to those living with mental ill-health?
We know that these reforms were motivated in part by rising unemployment among those living with mental ill-health. We fear that these proposals have been designed specifically to restrict access to social security among those living with mental ill-health, distress, or trauma. Cutting people’s welfare payments will only exacerbate pre-existing distress and create more confusion and fear around the welfare system.
The announcement of cuts has already increased distress among Disabled people. If and when these effects come into place, they will decrease people’s economic security, which will deepen poverty and worsen distress. Financial insecurity is a well-known consistent predictor of poor mental health. Decreasing financial security, in any group, will lead to worse mental health. We do not have a mental health system that can cope with more demand.
Collapsing all health-related benefits into a single, high-stakes assessment will be distressing for people, irrespective of whether they have a pre-existing mental health problem. People living with mental ill-health already say that assessments make them feel daunted, undermined, and confused; these reforms will only make it worse.
Those living with mental ill-health are likely to be disproportionately affected by changes to the PIP eligibility criteria. This is because those living with mental ill-health are more likely than other groups to accrue points in lots of different daily living activities, rather than scoring highly in one particular category.
Another set of proposals includes increasing the number of Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies services. There is also an intention to expand the Individual Placement Support (IPS) programme for those with severe mental illness. This means that more people seeking or requiring emotional support will find themselves pushed toward work, regardless of whether or not work is appropriate or beneficial in a particular instance.
We are worried that employment advice in itself is being increasingly positioned as mental healthcare, and that generalised assumptions about its therapeutic benefit are being overstated. While employment advice may be helpful for some people in certain situations, we cannot accept it as a substitute for personalised mental health support.
Learn more
- Watch: Ellen Clifford gives an overview of Labours’ proposed welfare reforms.
- Read:
- Join: Rethink Mental Illness’ webinar on the impact of these cuts on those living with mental ill-health (9th April, 12pm, online and free to attend).
Take action
- Join a local organising group. There are regular actions being coordinated/promoted by organisations such as Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) and Crips Against Cuts.
- Know your rights, particularly if you are joining a protest/direct action group. There are lots of resources on protests by the Green and Black Cross, who are also running (free) online “Know your Rights” trainings. There are other legal resources available from Liberty; such as a webinar on Disabled people’s right to protest, and an easy read guide for talking to the police.
- Write to your MP: MPs can put pressure on the Government to change the proposals. MPs will also vote on new pieces of legislation required to enact these reforms, so it is helpful for them to know how many people are worried. You can find out who your MP is using this tool, or use Inclusion London’s pre-written letter about welfare cuts.
The consultation
The Government is currently consulting on some of these changes. The consultation is open until 30th June 2025.
The Government is currently consulting on:
- How workplaces can better support Disabled employees.
- How to support people who may lose eligibility for PIP.
- Changes to unemployment benefits (e.g. merging Universal Credit with Jobseekers Allowance).
This consultation does not cover:
- Abolition of the Work Capability Assessment.
- Changes to PIP eligibility criteria.
- Adjustments to the Universal Credit health element (such as freezing the rate and removing support for people under 22).
It is not clear how, when, or if the Government will consult on some of the changes outlined above. However, some of the changes will require new pieces of legislation which must be voted on in parliament. Parliament has the power to receive evidence, so could, in effect, run its own consultation on the changes to help them decide how to vote. We will keep you updated on if/when this happens.
How to contribute to the consultation
You can respond to the consultation by filling out the survey on the consultation page. This asks a set of predetermined questions, which frame issues in certain ways.
You can also respond via email by writing to: consultation.pathwaystowork@dwp.gov.uk. You can also write a letter to: Disability and Health Support Directorate, Department for Work and Pensions, Level 2, Caxton House, Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9NA.
You can see an example of what written evidence looks like, here (NSUN’s response to the Health and Social Care Select Committee inquiry into Community Mental Health Services).
Advice for responding via email/in writing:
- Attach your response to the email as a Word Document or PDF. In the main body of the email, give your name and contact details.
- It is possible that these responses will be made public, so make choices about what you do or do not want to be on the public record. You can also say in the email if you would like your response to be published anonymously, but there is no guarantee this request will be approved.
- Keep it as brief as possible. Use subheadings and bullet points.
- Show that you are not the only person concerned. For example, you can include links (by linking in-text or using footnotes) to pieces of evidence/open letters used in this article.
- Focus on the impact of the reforms. In particular, it will be helpful to show the Government how these proposals would prevent many people from working, or how they rely on wrongful assumptions.
- Take your time. The deadline is not until 30th June.
Accessibility
The Government has failed to provide fully accessible versions of each document associated with the consultation. This may, later down the line, be helpful to show that this consultation was run badly.
Some of the documents have a “request an accessible format” button below. Here you can ask for the file in a version that works for you.
What does NSUN think about the consultation?
We believe this consultation is inadequate, because:
- A lack of accessible versions means it is not accessible to the people it claims to be seeking to hear from.
- The survey questions are leading and do not provide the room for people to talk about what matters most to them.
- It fails to consult on the most important changes — notably the abolition of the Work Capability Assessment and changes to PIP eligibility.
We have not yet written our consultation response, but will publish it when finished. We will not be filling out the survey, and will instead be submitting written evidence via email.
What is NSUN doing to oppose the reforms?
NSUN is committed to opposing these reforms. We are:
- Organising with Disabled people’s organisations: Regularly meeting with other groups through the Disability Benefits Consortium and DPO Forum.
- Working as part of Scope’s cost of cuts campaign, along with many of the UK’s largest mental health and Disability charities.
- Offering micro-funding (<£500) to grassroots/Disabled-led groups organising against these cuts. If you think your group may be eligible, please email courtney.buckler@nsun.org.uk.
- Supporting members to respond to the consultation: If you would like to discuss your consultation response, please email courtney.buckler@nsun.org.uk.
- Platforming actions which respond to the cuts.
- Preparing our response to the Government’s consultation, ahead of the 30th June deadline. We will share our response and further advice when it is completed.