Spring statement: “these cruel cuts are out of touch with what voters want from this government"

Scotland’s charities have reacted with dismay and anger at the UK Labour government’s decision to slash welfare spending.

On Wednesday Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled her latest proposals for UK finances in a spring statement. 

The announcement included plans to tighten requirements for social security, deep cuts to welfare and public services and increases to defence spending. 

This, along with the decision to cut international aid – which Reeves doubled down on - has been characterised as a betrayal of the hopes some had in the Labour government when it was elected last year and a decision by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his cabinet to prioritise warfare over welfare, while signalling a return to austerity.

The Resolution Foundation think tank said that an estimated 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, will be living in poverty by the end of the decade as a result of the government’s squeeze on welfare.

It said about 3 million households on incapacity benefits would be affected, and about 800,000 claimants will have reduced Personal Independence Payments.

In the spring statement, Reeves announced that health-related Universal Credit for new claimants, which was already due to be cut from £97 to £50 per week from April 2026, will now not rise with inflation until after 2030.

Under-22s will no longer be able to claim the health-related element of Universal Credit and for existing claimants health-related payments will be frozen at £97 per week until 2030, with a new top-up payment introduced for those with the most severe conditions

There will also be a stricter eligibility test for Personal Independence Payments (PIP), the main disability benefit, from November 2026, from when PIP will be frozen and not inflation-linked.

In Scotland, which has a partly devolved welfare system, PIP is paid through Adult Disability Payment (ADS), but a with a freezing of PIP at UK level this would have a knock-on effect, with the Fraser of Allander Institute saying the Scottish Government budget would be worse off by £900 million from 2029 if these cuts are not reversed.

Meanwhile, the Labour government said it will ramp up spending on arms and has refused to consider any form of wealth tax.

Civil society in Scotland has reacted with anger at the spring statement, which also comes after the Labour refused to lift the two child cap on Universal Credit and cut winter fuel payments for pensioners.

Satwat Rehman, chief executive of One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS), said: “This was an opportunity for the UK Government to demonstrate the sincerity of its commitments to tackle child poverty.
 
“Instead, the cuts announced will have the opposite effect: pushing an additional 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, into relative poverty across the UK.
 
“In the joint letter OPFS signed with 39 women's organisations to Rachel Reeves, we warned that women—who are the majority of disabled people, unpaid carers, and single parents—will bear the brunt of these cuts, pushing many out of work.
 
“For disabled survivors of domestic abuse, losing benefits could mean losing a vital financial lifeline.
 
“We urge the government to reconsider these cuts and instead raise £60 billion through fairer taxation on the wealthiest.”

Sara Redmond, chief officer at the Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland, said social security changes would cause hardship, confusion and risked the values of Scotland’s social security system. 

She said: “We are concerned the chancellor’s spring statement doubled down on the cuts to social security for disabled people and people living with long term conditions that were announced last week. These moves will plunge thousands of disabled people into hardship, and threaten Scotland’s devolved system, founded on dignity, fairness and respect.  

“The changes will cause confusion and worry and inappropriately conflate out-of-work support with support for the additional costs incurred by disabled people because of the barriers they face.  

“Social security is an investment in people, but the UK Government’s approach penalises people for their circumstances in the name of austerity. We urge the UK Government to change course.”  

Meanwhile, John Dickie, director of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said: “Stealth cuts to UK social security bring neither stability nor security to struggling families. They will push children into poverty across the UK, undermining the progress on child poverty being made in Scotland.  

“Growth and better living standards are not achieved by taking money from families with the least. The Westminster government must invest in social security support - not cut it - or risk being remembered as the Labour administration under whose watch child poverty continued to rise.”

Cara Hilton, senior policy manager at Trussell in Scotland, said: “This has incredibly worrying implications for disabled people in Scotland. The insistence by the Treasury on driving through record cuts to disabled people’s social security to balance the books is both shocking and appalling. People at food banks are telling us they are terrified how they’ll survive.

“These brutal cuts to already precarious incomes won’t help more disabled people find work, but they will risk forcing more people to skip meals and turn to food banks to get by.

“Cuts come at a cost. Driving up hunger and hardship means more spending on already struggling public services, with increased hospital and GP visits a very likely outcome of these actions.

“Disabled people are already three times more likely to face hunger, and over three quarters of people in receipt of Universal Credit and disability benefits are already struggling to afford the essentials like food. This will only get worse.

“These cruel cuts are out of touch with what voters want from this government. The government says people voted for change in Westminster, but we know that seven in ten voters across political parties agree the social security for disabled people should at least be enough to cover essential living costs. This is a change for the worse, and it is disabled people who will pay the price.”

Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS) responded by saying the planned cuts to social security will mean that ill and disabled people will bear the brunt of problems in the wider economy.

Chief executive Derek Mitchell said: “It’s important to understand the context of this. The cost of living crisis hasn’t gone away. Our CABs provide expert advice and support to tens of thousands of people across Scotland who are already really struggling with essentials like food and fuel.

“Two thirds of people supported by Scottish CAB advisers are disabled or have a long term health condition. So we know that people are scared and uncertain about the future, and our advisers are bracing for the impact of yet another wave of welfare reform.

“Social security is an investment in all of us – any of us could fall ill or become disabled. There are no circumstances in which ill and disabled people should bear the brunt of the problems in the wider economy.

“It’s in all of our interests to ensure the system works and is properly funded. We need more investment in social security, not less. The cuts announced today are in complete contradiction to this and will only cause more hardship and harm.”

Roz Foyer, STUC general secretary, added: “No-one denies that this statement was made in the midst of testing domestic and international circumstances. 

“However, the chancellor had choices. She could have rewritten her self-imposed and self-defeating fiscal rules. She could have increased taxes on corporations or the wealthy. She could have delayed decisions till the autumn budget.

“Instead, she has rushed through deeply damaging cuts to support for disabled people. The fact that the government is now freezing some benefits that they appeared to rule out only last week, show that this is policy on the hoof, and it is our most vulnerable who are bearing the brunt.”