The Government is consulting on plans to remove access to the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity element of Universal Credit
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has proposed changes that could result in thousands of Universal Credit claimants losing nearly £100 each week. Disability Rights UK is battling against the government’s plans to eliminate access to the health component of Universal Credit, currently referred to as the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) element, for most adults aged 16-21.
This would apply to those within this age bracket who claim the benefit independently. Activists warn that if the proposal is approved, almost 110,000 disabled young adults could lose nearly £100 each week.
Contact, a charity that assists families with disabled children, warns that this could have a “devastating financial impact not only on disabled young adults who are not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), but also on many who are in education or low-paid employment”.
It further states that DWP’s plans push “disabled young adults and their families further away from employment prospects and further into poverty”.
The Green Paper recognises that the government needs to “consider what special provisions need to be put in place for those young people where engagement with work or training is not a realistic prospect”. Liz Kendall, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, stated in a speech on May 21: “Those with the most severe, life-long conditions that will never improve and who can never work will have their Universal Credit protected, including young people aged under 22”.
Campaigners have expressed concerns that the criteria for severe conditions possess an “extremely high threshold”. The proposed changes are scheduled to be implemented in the financial year 2027/28, reports Nottinghamshire Live.
Furthermore, the Green Paper is exploring the option of extending Disability Living Allowance (DLA) up to the age of 18 instead of the current cutoff at 16, a move that Contact is backing.