‘Urgent’ disability benefit reform backed by Lords after Starmer warns of ‘ruthless’ cuts
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Changes to the work capability assessment are at the heart of Labour plans. An inquiry by House of Lords members has recommended “urgent” reforms be made to the UK’s disability benefits system, pressing the government to push ahead with planned changes.
![[An estimated 7.54 million NHS treatments were waiting to be carried out at the end of October (Jeff Moore/PA)]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/16/00/23d5aa71c660205c8c372d2657e4fca6Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3MDQzMzc5-2.78503511.jpg)
Writing to DWP secretary Liz Kendall, the House’s Economic Affairs Committee advises that welfare spending must be reduced or else it will “remain a challenge” for the government. The inquiry report points out that £65 billion a year is now spent on health-related benefits in the UK, which is more the government’s spend on defence (£54 billion).
In a wide-ranging letter, committee chair Lord Bridges of Headley argues that there too many incentives to claim health-related benefits under the current system, while there are too few to find work once they are being claimed. He recommends there be ‘no delay’ in planned reforms to how claimants of health-related benefits are assessed.
The intervention comes after prime minister Sir Keir Starmer told reporters during a recent visit to Ukraine that he would be “ruthless” in cutting benefits if needed to balance government spending. A green paper on planned changes to health-related benefits is expected in Spring.
The government has said changes to work capability assessment (WCA) will be central to the changes, as pledged in its manifesto. This health assessment is currently one of the main ways that someone will be found eligible or ineligible for health-related benefits. It has attracted controversy since its introduction in 2008, with reports in 2018 and 2023 both finding that too many incorrect assessment decisions continue to fuel mistrust of the process.
