New figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reveal a startling trend: over one-third of Universal Credit claimants are chronically ill and/or disabled. Yet despite this, Liz Kendall’s new ‘protections‘ in her upcoming planned cuts will do nothing for these 1.9 million people

DWP Universal Credit

With mental health conditions such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder emerging as the leading reasons, the data highlights the ongoing challenges faced by disabled people in the UK. Musculoskeletal conditions, like arthritis and fibromyalgia, are also significant contributors to this growing number.

As of recent statistics, approximately 2.6 million claimants—about 35% of the total on Universal Credit—are currently unable to work due to health issues.

Nearly 1.9 million of these individuals, equivalent to nearly three-quarters of those in this group, receive the Limited Capability For Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) top-up of £423 monthly.

This scheme ensures that the DWP cannot force them to seek employment. In contrast, around 382,000 individuals fall under the lower incapacity group, which has been discontinued, of Limited Capability for Work (LCW), which offers no additional payments but expects participants to start preparing to rejoin the workforce.

The figures come at a time when the DWP is about to cut disabled people’s Universal Credit.

Cuts are coming for most – despite what Kendall says

As the Canary previously reported, the proposed DWP changes focus on tightening eligibility criteria for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) and reducing the health-related component of Universal Credit. Specifically, the government plans to raise the threshold for PIP qualification, requiring claimants to score at least four points in one daily living activity, a move projected to disqualify over one million chronically ill and disabled people.

Additionally, the health top-up for Universal Credit will be frozen at £97 per week for existing claimants and reduced to £47 for new applicants, leading to an average annual loss of £1,700 for about three million people. It is this which will affect the 1.9 million chronically ill and disabled people on Universal Credit.

Just days ago, Kendall came out and said some Universal Credit claimants would be protected from the DWP cuts. As the Guardian reported:

The sickest benefit recipients with less than 12 months to live and those with lifelong, often progressive and incurable conditions will automatically get a higher rate of universal credit and will not have to go through reassessments, which take place on average every three years.

However, this is a tiny proportion of the 1.9 million people on DWP LCWRA.

Of these, potentially around 25,000 people are terminally ill. Because it is unclear what Kendall means by “lifeline… progressive and incurable conditions”, we don’t know how many other disabled people will be free from cuts.

However, it is unlikely to be many. So, regardless of what Kendall says, the DWP will still be cutting money from chronically ill and disabled people.

Featured image via the Canary

By Steve Topple

This post was originally published on Canary.