The Government is expected to announce plans to cut cash from Britain’s welfare bill

In an effort to save billions of pounds from Britain’s welfare bill, cuts are expected to hit DWP benefits in the coming weeks.

Keir Starmer’s government is expected to announce plans which could provoke the biggest revolt of his Labour leadership so far.

Some benefits will be targeted for massive savings ahead of the Spring Statement.

A number of Labour MPs are already warning the PM against “draconian” cuts to benefits while disability charities have raised the alarm over “catastrophic” impacts.

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Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, has been drawing up reforms to reduce the number of people on health-related benefits and get them back into work.

Last week, she told a Cabinet meeting that there are 2.8 million people out of work due to ill-health and one in eight young people are not in education, training or employment.

It comes as the Government spent £65billion on sickness benefits last year which is a 25 per cent increase since the year before the pandemic.

It is forecast to hit £100billion before the next general election and reforms are expected to be set out in a welfare green paper, The Mirror reports.

Trussell found more than three quarters of people claiming Universal Credit and disability benefits had gone without essentials in the last six months.

Four in ten had also skipped meals to keep up with other essential costs.

Below are changes which could be coming in the next few weeks.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Ministers are reportedly planning to cut up to £5billion from the welfare bill through changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefits. The fund is for people both in and out of work and gives recipients help with extra living and mobility costs linked to their disability.

A leak of the plans suggests ministers are planning to make it harder for people to qualify for the payments which charities have already warned would be “catastrophic”. There are also suggestions payments could be frozen next year so it does not increase in line with inflation.

The scale of what is being proposed here is huge. The Resolution Foundation estimates that to reduce PIP costs by £4billion in 2029/30, it would require at least 630,000 fewer people receiving the benefit – or a 15% real-terms cut to the value of the award over the same time period.

But it is understood ministers have ruled out replacing the benefit with vouchers as first proposed by the Tories under ex-PM Rishi Sunak.

Universal Credit

The government is also said to be looking at hiking the basic rate of Universal Credit paid to people already in work – or looking for employment. This currently stands at just over £311 per month for a single person over 25.

And Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall also wants to plough some of the money – around a billion pounds – into employment support for those looking for a job.

Last month she said “despite all the myths a lot of people who are currently on sickness or disability benefits want to work”. But there are also reports the benefit rate paid for those deemed unfit to work due their disability or ill-health could also be cut.

Work Capability Assessments reforms

Ministers have previously vowed to reconsult regarding changes to a key disability used to determine whether someone with a health condition or disability is fit to work.

It follows a High Court ruling in January that said a Tory-era consultation on reforms to the Work Capability Assessment were unlawful. In the autumn of 2023 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) announced plans to change the way the WCA was scored. One of the options being looked at included removing or reducing scores for problems with mobility.

Despite the court’s ruling, Labour said the Government “intends to deliver the full level of savings in the public finances forecasts.” The level of any savings may be set out by the Office for Budget Responsibility at the Spring Statement in a fortnight.

What have Labour MPs been saying?

Speaking to the BBC’s Westminster Hour on Sunday, Rachael Maskell, the MP for York Central, said that she has had a “flurry of emails” from people who are “deeply concerned” about the prospect of changes to the system.

She said: “We recognise the economic circumstances that we’re in and the hand that we were given and of course it is right that the Chancellor has oversight over all those budgets but not at the expense of pushing disabled people into poverty.”

Ms Maskell also said she had picked up “deep, deep concern” among colleagues and called for a “compassionate system and not taking just draconian cuts”.

What happens next?

Many of the cuts will be set out officially for the first time when the Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivers the Spring Statement on March 26. This will come alongside forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility setting out any proposed savings from the reforms.

But expect the Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall to speak about the overall changes to welfare in the coming days and she prepares to lay the ground. Labour MPs are growing increasingly anxious over the scale of the cuts after one prominent charity – Scope – said “ripping PIP away will be catastrophic for disabled people”.

On Monday, 16 major charities – including Trusell, Scope, and Mind – warned the government benefit cuts will have a “catastrophic impact on disabled people up and down the country”. In a letter to the Chancellor they estimated around 700,000 more disabled households could be pushed into poverty.

Any of the changes announced are also expected to be subject to a consultation period which means they won’t be introduced imminently.