Spring Statement Benfits Changes: Our first reaction
The Chancellor’s Spring Statement, delivered on 26 March 2025, confirmed and updated previously announced plans to reform disability and sickness benefits. These changes mark a significant shift in support provided through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit (UC) – to reduce welfare spending by £5 billion a year by 2030.
While these proposals build on earlier government intentions, the detail shared in the Spring Statement sharpens the direction of travel – and raises serious concerns for individuals and communities likely to be affected.
Key Changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
What is PIP?
PIP supports over 3.6 million people with long-term physical or mental health conditions to manage the additional costs of daily life and mobility.
What’s changing?
From November 2026, eligibility will tighten. Instead of being able to qualify through small points across multiple activities, claimants will need to score at least four points on a single activity.
Around 800,000 people may lose entitlement as a result.
There will be more frequent reassessments, except those with severe, permanent conditions.
Payment levels remain unchanged:
Daily Living: £72.65 (standard) / £108.55 (enhanced)
Mobility: £28.70 (standard) / £75.75 (enhanced)
Changes to Universal Credit (UC)
What is UC?
UC is a benefit claimed by 7.5 million people, including many with disabilities or long-term health conditions who receive an additional top-up.
What’s changing?
The disability top-up (£416.19/month) will no longer apply to claimants under 22.
It will be cut from £97/week to £50/week by 2026–27 and then frozen until 2030.
Meanwhile, the introductory UC rate will rise incrementally to £106/week by 2029–30.
Who Will Lose Out?
Government figures show that 3.2 million families will be worse off, losing an average of £1,720 a year:
370,000 PIP claimants will lose support due to the stricter eligibility rules.
2.25 million UC claimants will see real-terms cuts due to the top-up freeze.
730,000 future UC recipients could lose up to £3,000 per year compared to current rates.
Who Gains?
Approximately 3.8 million families may benefit from the changes, largely due to the increased basic UC rate and revised assessment systems — gaining an average of £420 a year.
Employment Support and Wider Reforms
Alongside these cuts, the government is introducing a new package of employment-focused initiatives:
£1 billion will be invested in personalised employment support for disabled people and those with long-term conditions.
The Work Capability Assessment will be scrapped by 2028.
A new “right to try” model will allow people to attempt work without losing benefits if it doesn’t work out.
A more generous, time-limited benefit is expected to replace ESA and JSA.
Why Are These Reforms Happening?
The government cites rising welfare costs as the reason for reform. Welfare spending is projected to increase from £65 billion to £100 billion by 2029, with PIP costs alone expected to double to £34 billion, mainly due to a rise in mental health-related claims.
These plans are part of a long-term strategy to slow growth in spending on welfare benefits on the one hand, while encouraging and supporting greater workforce participation on the other.
Our Response: Citizens Advice Essex Shares Concerns
While we welcome more explicit details on the government’s approach, two major concerns remain.
1. A reduction in financial support - affecting many people already on low incomes
The intent is clear: to reduce the number of people entitled to disability and sickness benefits. This will inevitably mean that many people currently receiving help will lose out, even though their needs have not changed. For people already on low incomes, this could mean falling into relative poverty with a knock-on effect across entire communities.
2. The risk of unfair assessments
Tougher and more frequent assessments may sound reasonable — but experience tells us that when the government has made big changes to assessment processes in the past (whether for PIP or ESA), it has led to increased errors, delays, and unfair decisions. People who should still qualify may lose support, not because they don’t meet the criteria, but because the system fails them - failing to assess the true extent and impact of their illness or disability.
We also know that demand for advice increases whenever the assessment system is expanded or redesigned. But we’re facing pressure too. Despite improvements in the range of funding and therefore services we have developed that help clients maximise income, the state of our specialist provision, especially for helping people challenge decisions through tribunal representation, is less well resourced than it was in the past. Moreover - people affected by these changes won't necessarily just seek advice only about them - but about the consequences: debt, repossession, difficulties in work, relationship disputes. As a network, we help 73,000 people every year - an increase over time due to our own efforts to secure funding and improved effeciency but it sill isn't the full extent of demand for our services.
Citizens Advice Essex:
If you’re affected by these changes — or worried you might be — we’re here to help. But these reforms make one thing clear: the safety net is getting smaller. As demand grows, so does the need for strong, well-resourced independent advice services to protect people from falling through the cracks — whether due to changing rules or flawed decisions.
Check our national website, www.citizensadvice.org.uk for more information (that will be released over time) or reach out to us if you think you are going to be affected.