Mon, 17 Mar 2025

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 Benefits overhaul will be fair, insists Kendall

Proposals to change benefits rules to be unveiled on Tuesday have provoked unease among Labour MPs.

* The Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, has announced plans to overhaul benefits rules in an effort to make them "sustainable" amidst rising expenditure on health benefits.
* The changes aim to reduce spending on health-related benefits, which is expected to continue rising due to the Covid pandemic.
* Labour MPs have expressed concerns over potential welfare cuts and are waiting for details of the proposals.
* Ministers have abandoned plans for a one-year freeze to PIP payments after disquiet from MPs.
* Instead, changes will focus on eligibility for PIP, with spending projected to almost double to £34bn by 2029-30.
* The government expects to save money through increased "personalised support" to help claimants back into work and tackling "incentives to inactivity".
* Total spending on health and disability benefits is forecast to rise from £64.7bn in 2023-24 to £100.7bn in 2029-30.
* The plans are expected to be unveiled on Tuesday, with some of the money saved spent on helping jobless claimants back into work.
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