Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill19 June 2025 On Wednesday 18 June 2025, a press release announced that the Government would be introducing a new bill in Parliament today: “Additional protections for millions of vulnerable people on benefits are set to be written into law” This comes about 3 months after Rachel Reeves announced the proposed cuts to benefits in the Spring Statement and in the wake of fierce criticism from disabled people and the organisations that represent them. The bill, expected to be voted on for the first time by Members of Parliament in the House of Commons, will be debated at the start of July. Whilst this is the first benefits bill being introduced by the Labour government, it does not deal with all the changes proposed, it makes provision for changes to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Universal Credit (UC). The main changes are below: Eligibility criteria for PIP changed with a need to score more than 4 points in any one daily living activity question (expected to be from November 2026) For those no longer eligible for PIP under the new rules, there will be a period of continued payment for 13 weeks Rates of UC are being changedStandard rate of UC rising by the rate of inflation plus 2.3% above inflation in 2026/2027 up to 4.8% above inflation in 2029/2030The additional payment for ‘health’ under the Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity Group (LCWRA) will be frozen for current claimants at £97 per week (£423.27 per month) from April 2026 until March 2030 New claimants of UC put in the LCWRA Group will have their award capped at £50 per week (£217.26 per month) A new category of UC health element has been added for ‘severe conditions’ which means that they will receive a higher rate of UC as well as not being subject to routine reassessment It is important to note that this bill is currently a proposed bill and is not yet in force. There is a possibility that changes to this bill could be made in either the House of Commons with Members of Parliament or in the House of Lords. We are encouraging all our beneficiaries to write to your MP to emphasise how these changes will affect you. NRAS are part of the consortium of charities, Disability Benefits Consortium, who are adamantly against the changes suggested to PIP and UC. NRAS have provided a response to the Government’s Green Paper, “Pathways to Work”, to strongly oppose the proposed cuts and to ensure that people living with disabilities are supported and not made to feel as though they are a burden on our society. We will continue to call for these proposed benefit cuts to be scrapped and will keep all our members updated with any news.