Huge DWP disability benefit changes in October Budget to save £3bn – but 1,000s could lose £5,000 a year

THOUSANDS of disabled Brits could suffer up to £5,000 a twelvemonth arsenic Rachel Reeves is acceptable to propulsion done brutal payment cuts.

The Chancellor is expected to slash £3bn from the payment measure successful the Budget - with £1.3bn of that coming from disability benefits.

The changes, archetypal introduced by the Tories, volition tighten entree to sickness benefits done pugnacious caller rules nether the Work Capability Assessment.

The Office for Budget Responsibility said the determination would prevention £3bn implicit 4 years and the sum is already factored into Treasury spending assumptions.

But the tougher criteria could spot 420,000 disabled oregon sick radical suffer captious fiscal support, with experts informing immoderate volition look devastating cuts of up to £5,000 annually.

The Resolution Foundation, an autarkic deliberation tank, has warned that slashing the benefits volition permission these radical struggling to marque ends meet, calling connected the Chancellor to rethink the plan.

But Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall yesterday said the benefits strategy needs the astir far-reaching betterment successful a procreation to get millions backmost into work.

Her section is preparing to rotation retired a extremist overhaul of welfare, promising a pro-work, pro-opportunity agenda.

There are 2.8 cardinal radical disconnected enactment owed to semipermanent sickess, with the outgo of benefits for moving property radical acceptable to scope £64bn by the extremity of the Parliament.

This fig volition beryllium an summation of £30bn connected pre-pandemic levels.

Before the election, erstwhile Work and Pensions Mel Stride unveiled plans to tighten payment rules to necessitate an other 400,000 radical signed disconnected semipermanent to spell backmost to work.

They would automatically suffer immoderate of their benefits payments, with the anticipation being that they would yet participate the workforce, cutting the payment measure adjacent further.

Ms Reeves has committed to delivering the £3bn successful savings, but it volition beryllium up Ms Kendall to find the circumstantial changes needed to execute that target.

A Government spokesperson said: “We person ever said that the Work Capability Assessment is not moving and needs to beryllium reformed oregon replaced alongside a due program to enactment disabled radical to work.

“We volition present savings done our ain reforms, including genuine enactment to assistance disabled radical into work.”