Incapacity benefit cuts consultation was ‘misleading’ and unlawful, judge rules
Share:
Labour’s plan to push through ‘fit for work’ test reforms to save £3bn set back after activist’s high court challenge. Labour’s plan to push through £3bn of cuts to incapacity benefits has received a setback after a judge ruled an official consultation setting out the proposals was misleading and unlawful.
The high court said the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had presented UK-wide incapacity benefit assessment reforms as a way to support disabled people into work without making clear the “primary rationale” of the proposals was cost savings.
The consultation, which was carried out by the previous government in autumn 2023, failed to mention that 424,000 disabled people would see their benefits cut, many losing £416 a month, the judge found. Documents released to the court also revealed that internal DWP estimates suggested the reforms to the “fit for work” test known as the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) would push 100,000 highly vulnerable disabled people into absolute poverty.
Ellen Clifford, a disability activist who launched the legal challenge, said the proposed cuts had been “prioritised over lives”. She urged the government to rethink its proposals “and make the safety and wellbeing of disabled benefits their priority”.
