“What will the new Labour government do for benefit claimants and the welfare system?”

“Labour has won a historic landslide victory in the general election and has promised hope after 14 years of Tory rule – but the new government faces extensive challenges, including a “broken” benefits system in urgent need of reform. Can it truly offer change?

There are 14 million people living in poverty in the UK. Many are going without food, basic toiletries and heating because benefits are not stretching far enough. People are living in cold and damp homes, sleeping rough and relying on food banks.

And then there is a soaring welfare bill with which to contend. The number of people out of work because of long-term sickness is at a record high of more than 2.8 million, following the pandemic and chronic underfunding of NHS services. 

Many of these people are relying on disability benefits to survive – but it’s a system which is driving people to psychological trauma and worsening their physical and mental health conditions, pushing them further away from the workplace.

Would a Labour government offer the change which is so desperately needed?

Labour leader Keir Starmer has told the Big Issue he will be as “bold as Attlee” – the famous post-war PM who set up the NHS – and work towards ending poverty in the UK. Previous Labour governments have added billions to the welfare bill and brought down poverty.

In his election speech, Starmer said: “Across our country people will be waking up to the news, relieved that a weight has been lifted, a burden finally removed from the shoulders of this great nation.

“And now we can look forward. Walk into the morning, the sunlight of hope, pale at first but getting stronger through the day, shining once again, on a country with the opportunity after 14 years to get its future back.”

But the party has indicated that it will take a tough approach to social security. Starmer recently said “handouts from the state do not nurture the same sense of self-reliant dignity as a fair wage”.

Meanwhile, shadow work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall said earlier this year that “if you can work, there will be no option of a life on benefits” under a Labour government.

Still, there are plenty of Labour MPs fighting for a more compassionate benefits system, and the party now has massive majority, giving them huge power in parliament to enact the changes it wants to make.

The chair of the work and pensions committee Stephen Timms told the Big Issue he believes the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) could be “fantastic” under Labour – with a less “hostile” benefits system which supports people into employment, rather than “forcing” them into unsuitable jobs.

There were few concrete plans around the welfare system outlined in the Labour manifesto, and most mentions revolved around getting people into work.

Starmer and his shadow ministers have remained cautious and vague around their plans – there are sketchy ideas around universal credit reform and disability benefits. They have repeatedly said they have to be realistic with the economy and the taxpayers’ money. That cautious approach may just have won them the vote, but all eyes will be on the new government to see which policies they actually enact.

Below, we’ve outlined everything Labour has said about welfare – including everything we know about the party’s plans to reform disability benefits and universal credit, what Labour would do about state pension and the two-child benefit cap, and what we can learn from Labour’s previous record on welfare.

What does Labour plan to do about disability benefits?

Labour’s plans around the disability benefits system are primarily about pushing people with long-term health conditions into work so that they are not reliant on benefits from the DWP.

Although Labour MPs have spoken about wanting the benefits system to be more compassionate towards disabled people, the party itself is yet to commit to this. 

How Labour plan to push people into work and off benefits

Labour has a ‘Back to Work’ plan which it hopes will push people into work and off benefits. This includes new local plans for work, health and skills support to get more people with health conditions and disabilities into work, with devolved funding and leadership from mayors and local areas.

It has said it will “reform the benefit system so that it encourages work, including giving disabled people the confidence to try out a job without the fear of an immediate benefit reassessment if it doesn’t work out”.

In the second BBC debate, Starmer and Sunak were asked a question on disability benefits by a woman who said she had worked all her life but had to stop due to illness.

Sunak thinks that “people who can work should work” as he talked about his plans to tighten the disability benefits system. Asked what he thinks was wrong with this, Starmer replied: “There’s nothing wrong with that,” before outlining Labour’s plans to get people into work.

Starmer said a big part of Labour’s strategy to get more people into work and off benefits is tackling NHS waiting lists, to improve health outcomes and ensure people are well enough to work. Labour also plans to tackle the Access to Work scheme backlog to give disabled people the confidence to work.

Will Labour scrap the Tory plans for disability benefit reforms?

It is unclear whether Labour would scrap the Conservative plans for disability benefits reforms and cuts in full, although Labour MPs have spoken out against them. 

Tory proposals include stopping regular personal independence payments (PIP) and replacing them with one-off grants or vouchers for things like home adaptations and expensive equipment, as well as tightening the eligibility criteria. 

Labour’s shadow disability minister Vicky Foxcroft said: “PIP was created by the Tories but isn’t working for disabled people (or the taxpayer). DWP too often fails to get decisions right first time, leading to lengthy delays, reassessments and a stressful appeals process.

“On top of that, the Tories have run the health and care system into the ground. Labour will support disabled people to live independently, enable as many as possible to work and fix the NHS to make sure people get the treatment they need.

“We will be looking at the consultation in close detail, along with the Modernising Support green paper. Disabled people and those with long-term health conditions should not be scapegoated for problems Rishi Sunak and Mel Stride’s own party has created.”

It received backlash from others within the Labour Party too. Nadia Whittome, the Labour MP for Nottingham East, said: “The prime minister’s [Sunak's] comments about so-called ‘sick note culture’ and the changes that the government is proposing will do nothing to help people with mental illnesses. It will just make their lives harder.”

And Jess Phillips recently told the Big Issue about her sister-in-law’s battle to get PIP while terminally ill, hitting out at the Tories’ proposed benefit reforms. But Starmer and Labour have, at least officially, remained vague so far on whether these plans will be dropped.

What will Labour do with disability benefits assessments?

The Labour manifesto says: “We believe the work capability assessment is not working and needs to be reformed or replaced, alongside a proper plan to support disabled people to work.”

There are few details however about how the work capability assessment would be reformed, or what it would be replaced with. The Tories had also planned to scrap the work capability assessment, and reform it so that fewer people were eligible for the health element of universal credit.

There is nothing in the Labour manifesto about making work capability assessments or PIP assessments more compassionate, despite extensive evidence showing they can be traumatic and worsen people’s physical and mental health conditions.

Back when he was running for Labour leader in 2020, Starmer said work capability assessments were “inhuman” and must be scrapped, and that private provision of disability assessments by companies such as Atos must be stopped. 

Starmer has U-turned on a good number of pledges he made in his leadership campaign, so that’s not necessarily something to go on – although it does show that he’s aware there are issues within the disability benefits system.