Scots will find it harder financially to live with a disability say campaign groups

UK government ministers are “punching down” choosing to target the disabled and most needy as part of sweeping cuts to disability benefits.

Groups have condemned the announcement to scythe £5 billion of the welfare budget by 2030 saying it is  a catastrophe for disabled peoples’ living standards and independence.

Liz Kendall said the reforms will "ensure there is trust and fairness in the social security system" for years to come.

Among the biggest reforms will be the eligibility criteria for personal indeppendt payments (PIP) will be tightened up from November 2026, potentially resulting in reduced payments for many. It will become harder to qualify for the daily living component of PIP, which starts at £72.65 a week.

Incapacity benefits under universal credit will be frozen in cash terms for existing claimants at £97 per week from April next year - this means they will not be increased in line with inflation until 2029/30.

The amount will be reduced to £50 per week in 2026/2027 for new claimants.

And school leavers will no longer be able to immediately claim the health-related element of Universal Credit until age 22 - effectively trying to push more of them into work.

As Scotland has its own devolved version of social security, some benefits differ. Adult Disability Payment (ADP), is replacing PIP and DLAs in Scotland which is similar to PIP, but it has different processes for applications and for renewal.

Latest figures show there were still 80,000 people on PIP in Scotland. The Fraser of Allander Institute says that around 9% of people of working age receive some ADP, less than 4% receive PIP and less than 1% receive DLA.

Put together, economists say that nearly 14% of the working age population in Scotland are on disability benefits, other than the element that comes within Universal Credit.

In England and Wales, the share of working age people on PIP is closer to 9%.

Major reforms include:

Scrapping the Work Capability Assessment (WCA)

Stricter eligibility requirements for sick and disabled people receiving Personal Independence Payments (PIP)

Increasing the age at which people can claim PIP to 22

Increasing the age at which people can get access to health top ups and Universal Credits to 22

New unemployment insurance for those that have made National Insurance contributions

Roz Foyer, STUC general secretary, said the reforms could well have been delivered with a blue rosette.

She added: “Actively making it harder for people who cannot work and who need support is not the change that was promised during the election.

“It’s a short-sighted, reactionary decision that will negatively impact on the Scottish government’s budget. This is the wrong choice at any time but to do so when food, energy, utilities and housing costs are still eye-wateringly high, the government is risking throwing more people into completely avoidable destitution. 

“You don’t need to cut the support system to those with the least when you can cut the profits of those with the most.

“The UK government had a choice. They could have targeted those with wealth, assets and property, taxing and then redistributing the revenue. “They’ve chosen instead to punch down – something we cannot support.”

John Dickie, director of Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) in Scotland, said the reforms pose a real challenge to Scottish and UK government child poverty commitments.

“Children in a household where someone has a disability already have a higher risk of poverty and further cuts would only make life harder for many of these families,” he said.

“The UK government’s forthcoming child poverty strategy must prioritise investing in the social security system, including by scrapping the two-child limit at source. It would be undermined by cuts that take support away from people who need it and risk pushing yet more children and families into poverty.

“The Scottish government’s child poverty strategy rightly recognises families affected by disability as a priority group. Any UK benefit reforms must ensure the interaction of the UK and Scottish benefit systems reduces rather than exacerbates the poverty too many disabled people face.

“We need governments in London and Edinburgh to work together and invest more, not less, in social security to deliver on their child poverty commitments and ensure our future economic prosperity.”

Citizens Advice Scotland's head of social justice Emma Jackson said: “While much of the detail of how it will affect Scotland is still not clear, the UK government's aims to cut the welfare budget by £5 billion by 2030 will certainly put pressure on the system here.

"We fear it would lead to reduced incomes for those experiencing some of the most severe poverty in our society. This is unacceptable.   

“In addition, the whole public conversation over the last couple of weeks has been so distressing for sick and disabled people, many of whom are terrified about what these changes could mean for them."     

“We absolutely agree that our social security system needs reform. Universal Credit is broken and causes destitution by design, and yes people should be helped to work if they can. But we need to look at the system as a whole, not bits of it in isolation.

"Social security is an investment in all of us. It should be both the safety net and springboard that any of us could need at any stage in our lives. Investing in this benefits all of us and our economy in the long term.     

“The UK government says there are difficult decisions to be made. I challenge ministers to talk to our CAB Advisers and listen to what decisions people already must make. Whether to turn the heating on or charge an electric wheelchair; whether to pay the rent or put food on the table. These are the really hard decisions.

“Disabled people should not pay the price for the wider challenges in our economy.”   

International poverty campaigners say the UK government should tax the richest fairly instead. A wealth tax on people with assets of more than £10 million could raise £24 billion a year. 

Jamie Livingstone, head of Oxfam Scotland, said: “After slashing the aid budget, this latest perverse political choice, if fully replicated in Scotland, risks locking more people into hardship and deeper poverty, while the ballooning bank balances of the UK’s richest millionaires and billionaires get off virtually scot-free.  

“Political leaders in the UK, and here in Scotland, must instead choose to tax wealth fairly to help combat poverty and the inequality that drives it: there’s no shortage of money, just a shocking shortage of will to make the richest pay their fair share.”