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From next April, the health-related support paid through Universal Credit will quietly but decisively change. The limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) element—support intended for people whose health makes work-related requirements impossible—will be paid at two different rates. Existing claimants will keep the current level. New claimants will receive a lower rate, frozen until at least 2029/30. In real terms, this amounts to a halving of support.

Having a long-term health condition or disability comes at a severe cost already in the UK. Recent research from the disability charity SCOPE shows that disabled households need an extra £1,095 each month on average. This is just to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households. As inflation is expected to rise over the next five years, the extra cost of disability is estimated to reach £1,224 per month by 2029 to 2030 financial year.

This cut did not arrive by accident. It was proposed in the government’s Pathways to Work Green Paper, alongside a package of reforms that triggered widespread alarm. Some of those proposals—notably changes to personal independence payment—were withdrawn after public outcry. This one was not. Despite its human consequences, the LCWRA cut has now become law.

On paper, protections exist. People already receiving the LCWRA element by 6 April 2026 will keep the higher rate, as will a small group of future claimants: those nearing the end of life under the special rules, and people with the most severe conditions. For everyone else, a new and permanently lower level of support awaits.

What sounds like a single, clear deadline quickly dissolves into bureaucratic complexity. In reality, the date that matters for you may be months earlier—and it depends entirely on circumstances beyond most people’s control.
For someone making a new claim for Universal Credit, the rules are at least visible. Because there is a three-month waiting period before the LCWRA element can be added to an award, a claim must be made by early January 2026 to ensure the higher rate is in payment before April’s cut-off. Miss that window, and the lower rate applies—indefinitely.

For people already claiming Universal Credit, matters become far more arbitrary. If you report a new health condition and request a work capability assessment, the start date of any LCWRA award depends on your monthly assessment period (MAP)—a fixed cycle that cannot be altered, determined by when you first claimed. Two people can fall ill on the same day, submit identical evidence, and request assessments at the same time. One may qualify for the higher rate; the other may not, simply because their MAP starts on a different date.

In some cases, this means reporting a health deterioration by December 2025 to avoid losing hundreds of pounds a month in future years. The onus is on claimants—often unwell, often overwhelmed—to calculate backwards through a system few fully understand.

There is one comparatively straightforward route. If you are already assessed as having limited capability for work (but not LCWRA), and your condition worsens, you can request a review. No waiting period applies. If LCWRA is awarded, it can be included from the start of the assessment period in which the review was requested—provided that request falls before the end of the MAP containing 5 April 2026.
Yet even here, timing is everything. Miss the right assessment period, and the door to the higher rate closes.

This is not a system that responds to need. It is a system that rewards administrative luck. People do not choose when they have a stroke, develop a degenerative illness, or are injured in an accident. They do not choose their Universal Credit assessment period. But under this reform, those arbitrary dates will determine whether they can afford to heat their home or eat properly in the years ahead.

The government may present this cut as an incentive to work. The reality is, it is a line drawn through the lives of sick and disabled people, dividing them into the protected and the permanently poorer. That is not reform. It is arbitrary cruelty, written into law and enforced by the calendar rather than compassion.

Yesterday’s Budget marked a turning point in UK social policy — and, for once, the headline change truly deserves the spotlight. The abolition of the two-child limit, long criticised as one of the most punitive welfare rules of the past decade, signals a meaningful shift in how the state supports families. 

The numbers speak for themselves. The policy had affected around one in nine children nationwide — more than 1.5 million young people penalised simply for being born third. By restoring Universal Credit and child tax credit payments for every child, the government expects around 450,000 children to be lifted out of relative low-income poverty by 2030. For families with three or more children, that could mean £3,500–£3,650 more per child each year, a life-changing reinstatement of vital income.

Ending the cap won’t magically erase child poverty — the benefit cap still hits many of the same families — but it removes a structural penalty that disproportionately pushed larger, often already vulnerable households into hardship. This is social policy with a moral centre, backed by evidence.
But the Budget didn’t stop there, and the reaction across the country will be mixed.

On wages, the increase in the National Living Wage will bring a welcome earnings boost to millions of low-paid workers. Yet the government’s decision to freeze income-tax thresholds means many will find themselves paying more tax as wages rise. It’s a quiet form of fiscal tightening dressed as stability.

Energy bills are due to fall through reforms and phased-out levies — a relief many households desperately need — but this savings may struggle to outweigh rising housing costs and ongoing living-cost pressures.

Fiscal prudence is the other defining theme. By raising revenue through tax freezes and targeted increases, the government hopes to build a £20-plus-billion financial buffer. Stability matters, especially after a turbulent economic decade. But stability achieved through stealth taxation risks undermining public confidence, particularly among middle-income households whose budgets are already stretched.

Still, credit where it’s due: scrapping the two-child limit is more than a budget line. It is a moral recalibration — a rare moment where economic policy and social justice point in the same direction. Even in a budget defined by trade-offs, this single choice carries enormous weight.

For families who have spent years navigating impossible decisions — rent vs. food, heating vs. school shoes — this is more than policy. It is breathing room. It is dignity restored.

And in a climate where political announcements often feel remote from daily life, yesterday’s Budget delivered something concrete: real help for children who need it most. If the government wants to rebuild trust and deliver long-term prosperity, this is exactly the kind of beginning it needs.

⭐Would you like to learn more about support for children with Universal Credit? Check out Society Matters CPD Accredited “An Introduction to Universal Credit” and “Advanced Universal Credit” training.

Since the Labour Government’s announcement of its intentions to support more disabled people back into work several months ago as part of its ‘Pathways to Work’ Green Paper, Access to Work should undoubtedly play a huge role in delivering that support.

Access to Work is a government-funded grant intended to support people with disabilities in finding and, crucially, staying in work. As a grant, it does not need to be repaid and is not means-tested (though depending on the type of support offered, a ‘contribution’ may be requested from the claimant). Depending on how the person’s health condition affects them, it can pay for a range of support such as :

• Travel to/from work
• Support workers
• Specialist equipment/software
• Adaptions to business premises

Though do note that the above list is not exhaustive.

For context, total expenditure on Access to Work in the year 2023-24 was around £255 million and currently supports around 60,000 individuals. Government forecasts estimate by 2029-30, costs will have risen to £712 million as more people apply for and receive awards under Access to Work (typically awarded on a three-year basis). It is an indisputable fact that more people are applying and receiving Access to Work. But therein lies a contradiction.

In the last few months, various media organisations have reported on ‘secret’ cuts to Access to Work claims. Sir Stephen Timms, minister for the DWP stated to the Disability News Service last month that he had signed off on a proposal from civil servants to apply Access to Work guidance more ‘scrupulously.’ When pressed, he then promised to look into the date on which he received that proposal, before later telling the DNS (via the DWP Press Office) that there had in fact been no change to Access to Work policy.

DWP figures published in October 2025 show that the number of people having Access to Work claims approved fell by 10 percent in the year to March 2025. Requests for aids and equipment fell by 16 percent. Support with travel to work costs fell by 14 percent. Mental health support fell by 7 percent. It has been discussed that the next set of figures for the last 6 months (which won’t be published for another 12 months) are widely expected to show steeper reductions in successful claims.

But at Society Matters, one thing we always strive to help our customers understand is the ‘people behind the process.’ Over the last few months, stories have emerged from news organisations like the BBC of the human cost of these cuts. One disabled entrepreneur who used his lived experience of disability to found a business supporting disabled people in the workplace and himself relied on his Access to Work grant to fund round the clock support workers has found his Access to Work package reduced by 80% with the end result leaving him funding his support himself, but openly admitting he can only do this for a few months. Similarly, a woman working at a hospitality venue in the North East which predominantly employs neurodivergent staff (and so relies on Access to Work funding to support them), found that after waiting 10 months for her reassessment to be done, her support had been cut leaving her employer to pick up the costs. The venue themselves said they had had to let members of staff go previously after problems with Access to Work drove up their costs unsustainably. In short, the system there to remove barriers for disabled people in the workplace is actually contributing to them.

The Government’s aim is to help 100,000 disabled people into work. This is a laudable aim; the disability employment rate has hovered around only 53% for several years now. But how on the one hand can the Government say they want to help disabled people into work while stripping them of the support that allows them to do so? If the Government want to truly support disabled people and tap into the under-utilised pool of talent that disabled people can bring into the workforce, then simply wishing it won’t make it so.

In an interview with the BBC, Sir Stephen Timms (mentioned above) summarised the ‘problem’ with Access to Work as being ‘the number of people wanting support.’ We would argue that attitude is the problem. If the Government want disabled people into work, then how can we blame them and suggest it’s a ‘problem’ for them to take advantage of the support they need, never mind are legally entitled to? Disabled people cannot afford for Access to Work to be the problem. It must be the solution.

⭐Society Matters are proud to say we now offer a half-day CPD-accredited course on Access to Work covering topics such as eligibility, what support Access to Work can provide, the application process and how to manage a claim day-to-day, all using real-life case studies and experience. You can find out more information about the course and sign up for the next session here.

In recent months, various politicians have often repeated the claim that Britain’s welfare system is “too easy to claim.” This narrative, designed to suggest widespread dependency, could not be further from the truth. The reality is starkly different: the biggest problem is not overclaiming, but underclaiming.

According to research by Policy in Practice, more than £24 billion in benefits will go unclaimed in 2025–26. That includes £11.1 billion in Universal Credit and billions more in disability benefits and carers’ support. An estimated seven million households are missing out, with an average entitlement of £3,428 per household—money that could make the difference between heating and eating for many this winter.

Why do people not claim? The barriers are numerous. Complexity, digital exclusion, and stigma all can play a role. Lengthy forms and confusing rules deter those without specialist knowledge, while many older people—particularly those without digital access—simply give up trying. Carers, often already stretched thin and with little free time, are missing an estimated £2.4 billion in Carer’s Allowance. People with disabilities, who face extra costs every day, are underclaiming by billions in disability-related support. Far from being “too easy,” the system is often impenetrable.

This is not just an issue of lost income—it is about fairness and dignity. Every unclaimed pound represents someone potentially going without food, medication, or security. Benefits exist to provide stability, yet the system itself prevents people from accessing them.

The political narrative of ease masks a harsher truth: Britain’s welfare state is not overgenerous, but under-accessed. The challenge for policymakers is not how to cut entitlements, but how to remove barriers so that people—especially older citizens, carers, and disabled people—can claim the support that is already theirs by right.

Do you support people struggling to claim welfare benefits? We have several training courses including The Welfare Benefits System, An Introduction to Personal Independence Payment, DLA for Children, An Introduction to Universal Credit and Advanced Universal Credit. Check out our full list of training here.

The latest Ministry of Justice data paint a stark picture: more than 1,000 people a month are leaving prison homeless, an 82% increase in just two years and the highest figure since records began. While the number of individuals released has risen by 38% in the same period, the proportion becoming homeless has grown even faster, underscoring a deepening crisis.

This rise cannot be separated from the wider homelessness emergency in the UK. With 327,950 households assessed as homeless last year and rough sleeping up 20% in twelve months, those leaving prison are competing for housing in a system already at breaking point.

Schemes such as CAS-3, which provides up to 84 days of temporary accommodation, play an important role. Over 10,000 prison leavers used the scheme last year, a 45% increase in just one year and it now houses one in eight people leaving custody. But CAS-3 is a short-term safety net, not a long-term solution, and many fall outside its eligibility criteria.

Beyond housing, the challenges multiply. Navigating the welfare system is often the first hurdle. For someone leaving custody with little support, making a claim for Universal Credit can be a slow, complex process, leaving individuals without income at precisely the point when stability is most critical.

Social ties are another fragile lifeline. Many people leave prison to find themselves isolated from family and friends, relationships fractured by time, distance, or stigma. Without strong personal networks, the path to reintegration becomes even harder.

Employment represents yet another significant barrier. While securing a job is one of the strongest predictors of reduced reoffending, prison leavers face limited opportunities. They often lack recent work experience, struggle with the digital skills modern recruitment demands, and encounter overt discrimination from employers wary of criminal records. This exclusion entrenches poverty and increases the risk of returning to offending.

Taken together—homelessness, bureaucratic obstacles, social isolation, unemployment, and discrimination—these barriers form a cycle that is difficult to break without coordinated intervention. Supporting prison leavers is not simply a matter of social justice; it is a matter of public safety and economic sense. Stable housing, accessible benefits, family connection, and fair employment pathways are not luxuries, but essential tools to reduce reoffending and create safer communities.

⭐ Society Matters are proud to say we offer a full-day CPD-accredited course on Prisoners and Welfare Benefits where we go into detail on the challenges prisoners face and how we can support them to positively move forward with their lives now their offending is behind them.