More people will need social workers as a result of Rachel Reeves’ welfare cuts

Chancellor is playing into narrative of “deserving and undeserving poor” warns Social Workers Union
John McGowan

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' welfare reforms will increase pressure on already "over-stretched" social services, the British Association of Social Workers and the Social Workers Union have warned.

SWU's general secretary John McGowan claimed “dire unintended consequences” would follow while BASW's chief executive Ruth Allen said the chancellor had "chosen to inflict further cuts" on the most vulnerable in society.

in her Spring Statement, Reeves announced additional restrictions to welfare on top of those announced in a green paper just days earlier to save £4.8 billion in sickness and disability benefits.

She told the Westminster parliament: “We are reforming the welfare system, making it more sustainable, protecting the most vulnerable and supporting more people back into secure work, lifting them out of poverty.”

The reforms

  • Reintroduction mandatory reassessments for most people on incapacity benefits
  • Tightening the eligibility criteria for personal independence payments (PIP) paid to people with disabilities
  • Delaying the health element of universal credit until the age of 22
  • Increased face-to-face assessments for PIP
  • Freezing of the health element of universal credit for existing claimants until 2029/30
  • Reducing the health element of universal credit by 50 per cent for new claimants from next year, with payment frozen thereafter until 2029/30

Reeves said the government will invest £1 billion to provide “guaranteed, personalised employment support to help people back into work”.

Reassessments will end for people with disabilities and lifelong conditions that mean they will never be able to work.

 The impact

A government analysis estimates the reforms will plunge a further 250,000 people, including 50,000 children, into poverty by the end of the decade. 

The Spring Statement 2025 Health Disability Benefit Reforms – Impacts assessment, published by the Department for Work and Pensions, also assesses 3.2 million families will lose an average of £1,720 a year as a result of the welfare cuts.

However, it says 3.8 million families will gain an average of £420 a year. Some 370,000 people will lose their PIP entitlement after review and 430,000 people who would have been entitled to PIP in the future will now not gain the benefit, says the analysis.

The estimates do not take into account new £1 billion annual funding to support people with disabilities into employment which, the impact assessment suggests, could mitigate against the cuts.

SWU and BASW reaction

John McGowan, general secretary of SWU, claimed the welfare reforms will increase need and put pressure on already creaking services.

“Rachel Reeves is using an ill-thought through blunt instrument to balance the books when it comes to welfare cuts,” he said. 

“As social workers, we are already over-stretched picking up the pieces of years of neglect of the most vulnerable people in society and we fully expect to see the impact of these latest plans on the people we work to support. 

“It will impact on people’s physical and mental health by creating greater anxiety. It risks forcing people with disabilities who rely on benefits such as PIP to stay working into unemployment. “Ironically, these cuts may end up costing the state more in terms of damage to health.”

McGowan added: “Reeves is in danger of playing into a narrative of the ‘deserving and underserving poor’ and we strongly urge her to think very carefully about the dire unintended consequences of what she is doing.”

Ruth Allen, chief executive of BASW, said: “It is unacceptable that the chancellor has chosen to inflict further cuts on welfare support for the most vulnerable and marginalised in society in ways that undermine the government’s own aim to enable more people to work.

"This will add to demand for adult and children’s social work and other care services, as well as stretching community and charitable support systems.

“The government’s own figures show that their welfare changes will plunge 250,000 more people, including 50,000 children, into poverty. This will be causing understandable worry and distress for many disabled people and low-income households across the UK."

Allen maintained instead of cutting welfare, the chancellor should raise revenue by taxing "those with the broadest shoulders".

She added: "BASW will be responding to the government’s consultation on their welfare changes where we will be advocating for those on the lowest incomes to be protected. 

"We will also continue to urge ministers ahead of June’s spending review to deliver the long-term investment in public services and social care that is still desperately needed.”