As part of the 2023 Autumn Statement chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced plans for a "shake up" of the current benefits system.
The chancellor said he wants to help the sick, disabled and long-term unemployed back into work under a £2.5bn plan aimed at tackling a current "waste of potential" in the population.
However, disability charity Scope said that threatening people with more sanctions will not lead to more disabled people getting into and staying in work, it will simply add to the stress and anxiety that disabled people already face.
Chloe Gordon, 28, from Reading is disabled and works from home but said finding her job wasn't easy: "It took me over a year to actually find a job that would let me work solely from home. Lots of places said the job was work from home then in the interview I was told it would be hybrid between home and the office"
There would be changes to the current “fit for work” tests for disability unemployment benefits. This could potentially more than halve the number of new claimants deemed unable to work, saving the exchequer over £1bn a year by 2028-29. The changes apply to new claims only, from April 2025
Alt text: bar graph showing the difference in the number of disabled and non-disabled people in employment. The first column is purple and shows 53.6% of disabled people are in work compared to 82.5% of non-disabled people represented by a turquoise column
Some charities and campaigners welcomed the work support measures but many warned cutting benefit support and expecting people with debilitating conditions to look for work or face benefit sanctions would put increasing numbers of disabled claimants, already disproportionately likely to be in poverty, at risk of destitution.
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