Drastic changes to Universal Credit payments have been confirmed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves during her Spring Statement this afternoon, following last week's announcement of reforms to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall unveiled the Labour Government's plan to get more Britons back into the workforce, tightening eligibility criteria for benefit support.
During today's fiscal statement, Reeves revealed cuts to public expenditure which included a major overhaul to the status quo for the DWP.
This comes after a Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) report found the £5billion in confirmed welfare cuts would in fact only generate £3.4billion in savings.
The Chancellor's Spring Statement confirmed Liz Kendall's overhaul to Universal Credit has been given the green light
GETTY / PA
What are the changes to Universal Credit?
Currently, more than three million Universal Credit recipients have no requirement to find work, a figure that has risen sharply in recent years.
The reforms will see the incapacity top-up for new claimants with limited capacity to work reduced from £97 to £50 per week by next year.
Furthermore, this particular top-up will see its rate frozen until 2030 to generate more savings. Existing health-related claimants will have their rates frozen until 2029-30.
Additionally, a new age restriction will prevent those under 22 from claiming the health element of Universal Credit. The basic level of Universal Credit is worth £393.45 a month to a single person aged 25 or over.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is looking for ways to cut Government spending
PAThanks to this top-up more than doubles the basic Universal Credit payment for those with limited capacity to work due to disability or long-term conditions.
The new age restriction means claimants will not be eligible to receive this incapacity top-up until they are aged 22 or over. Despite the cuts to the incapacity top-up, the Government has announced that the basic payment level for Universal Credit will increase.
This uplift will reach a £775 annual increase by the year 2029-30. Kendall described these changes as redressing the "imbalance" in the existing system.
"The Tories ran down the value of the Universal Credit standard allowance. As a result, the health top-up is now worth double the standard allowance at more than £400 a month," she told Parliament.
"So we're left with a binary assessment of can or can't work, and a clear financial incentive to define yourself as incapable of work."
Charities and anti-poverty campaigners have taken aim at the Government over its decision to target benefit claimants in a bid to reduce spending costs.
Mark Rowland, the chief executive at the Mental Health Foundation, said: "We're deeply worried about the targeting of measures at young people, such as the restriction of under-22s from claiming the 'health element' of universal credit."
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Labour is making drastic changes to Universal Credit
PAHe warned that young people are "particularly vulnerable to both financial hardship and poor mental health". Rowland also criticised Labour's communication of the changes, saying it "caused widespread fear, anxiety and pain among people who could be affected".
