STORY
The Institute for Fiscal Studies has said Reform UK’s welfare proposals would represent a substantially different approach to the benefits system as the party seeks savings of around £50 billion a year. The IFS said the reductions would come almost entirely from working age benefits, which are currently forecast to cost a little over £200 billion in 2030 to 2031.
One of the largest changes would largely remove eligibility for working age benefits from non UK citizens. The IFS said around 1.3 million non UK citizens currently claim Universal Credit, including about 650,000 who are not in employment. It said the eventual savings would depend partly on how many affected people became British citizens, while warning that withdrawing benefits could produce large immediate reductions in household incomes and significantly increase hardship for some claimants.
Reform UK is also proposing major changes to disability benefits, including a tougher assessment system, greater use of support such as equipment rather than cash and means testing for some assistance. The IFS said relatively little detail had been provided about how the new assessment would operate and noted that previous attempts to tighten disability benefit eligibility had generated considerably smaller savings than governments initially expected. It also highlighted Reform’s proposal to change the inflation measure used to increase benefits each year, which the IFS estimates would save £4.8 billion in 2033 to 2034 and progressively reduce benefit spending compared with the existing system in subsequent years.