The United Kingdom government’s draft law to cut spending on disability-related social security triggered major opposition from within the ruling party, forcing the government to roll back some of the legislation in order to win a key parliamentary vote last week. However, the watered-down version of the bill will still negatively affect some with disabilities and long-term health conditions.
As the bill returns to parliament on July 9, one troubling provision deserves particular scrutiny: from April 2026, the government will halve the amount of additional support it provides to new social security applicants “with a health condition or disability that restricts their ability to work.” Existing claimants would continue to receive benefits at the current rate. Parliamentarians should reject this two-tier system.
Universal Credit, the UK’s main means-tested social security support, includes an additional “health-related element” of around £105 a week, for certain people with long-term health conditions or disabilities. The “health-related element” recognizes, correctly, that people with long-term health conditions and disabilities may face additional costs. But under the bill, people applying for Universal Credit after April 2026 – even those who pass the government’s stringent assessment process – would still have their supplement halved to just over £50 per week.
Currently 2.1 million people—of the total 7.5 million getting Universal Credit—receive the “health-related element.” Estimates suggest that the proposed change could impact 750,000 people by 2030.
The injustice of such a two-tier system is evident: The additional costs for the support needed to perform everyday tasks will not miraculously halve for people who make claims after 2026. There are also real concerns that the bill, as currently worded, could also mean that current claimants who start working – only to later make a new Universal Credit claim – could end upgetting half the support.
Despite the hardship and misery it will cause for tens of thousands of claimants with disabilities and health conditions, independent calculations show that the bill won’t even save money.
Social security is a human right; genuine reform should guarantee the right to an adequate standard of living, and should ensure that there are no arbitrary inequalities baked into the system. Reform also requires consideration of linkages with public health provision, including mental health, and levels of social care.
This bill fails on all those counts. The government should scrap it.