The work and pensions secretary has not ruled out making further cuts to the welfare budget despite already unveiling reforms designed to save £5bn.
Liz Kendall said she had made the changes – which will see the eligibility criteria for disability benefits narrowed – because she wanted to “tackle a failing system that is failing the people who depend on benefits”.
Politics live: Kendall ‘cross’ about welfare system
In an interview with Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, the cabinet minister denied the reforms announced today were just a “drop in the ocean”.
She said she had announced a “substantial package” – and the changes would also be aimed at getting people into work to stop the overall bill ballooning to a projected £76bn by 2030.
Ms Kendall said they would deal with a “broken assessment process”, fix “terrible financial incentives” that force people on to welfare, and would focus benefits “on those in greatest need”.
“It’s providing the largest ever package of employment support,” she told Rigby.
Pressed again on whether she would rule out more savings over the course of this parliament, Ms Kendall replied: “I’m not saying that.
“I am suggesting we talk about the proposals we are actually making, and not those which we aren’t.”
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What changes are being made?
Earlier today, Ms Kendall announced a raft of reforms designed to cut the government’s expenditure on long-term sickness and disability benefits for working-age people, which has risen by £20bn since the pandemic.
High on the agenda were personal independence payments (PIP), which provide money for people who have extra care needs or mobility needs as a result of a disability.
People who claim it are awarded points depending on their ability to do certain activities, like washing and preparing food, and this influences how much they will receive.
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But Ms Kendall said from November 2026, people will need to score a minimum of four points in at least one activity to qualify for the daily living element of PIP.
Currently, the standard rate is given if people score between eight and 11 points overall, while the enhanced rate applies from 12 points.
However, Ms Kendall said the government would not freeze PIP – as reports had previously suggested – following a backlash from Labour MPs.
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How is PIP changing?
All the planned welfare reforms
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Minister ‘cross’ about welfare system
Asked by Rigby whether she had wanted to go further by freezing PIP, Ms Kendall said she had “never started from a sort of macho, tough position”.
“I’ve never done politics like that,” she said. “This is about real people and real lives.”
Ms Kendall, who ran to be Labour leader in the 2015 leadership race won by Jeremy Corbyn, admitted she was “cross” about the state of the welfare system, which she described as “broken”.
“I’ve seen in my own constituency people written off to a life that is not the life they hoped for themselves, or their children or their families,” she said.
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Addressing critics who have derided the changes as morally wrong, Ms Kendall said: “What I think is morally wrong is writing off people who could work.
“What’s morally wrong is looking at a benefit system where we are spending more and more on the costs of failure.
“And if that continues, the welfare state that we created won’t be there for the very people who need it.”
