Reform UK has unveiled plans to impose a new 20-hour-a-week compulsory community work rule on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimants should it win the forthcoming general election. Currently claimed by just under 4 million people, eligibility criteria for PIP would be substantially tightened, potentially resulting in an estimated 2.9 million individuals losing their cash payments.
Under the proposed reforms, claimants who have been unemployed for over a year would need to complete 20 hours of unpaid community work per week. While they would not receive wages for this work, they would be entitled to £30 per week in expenses. Failure to comply could lead to sanctions affecting their unemployment benefits.
Robert Jenrick, writing for The Telegraph, acknowledged the challenges of implementing these changes. He stated: “We will not pretend this is painless. Existing claimants will be reassessed over three to four years: we estimate that 2.16 million will keep their present cash entitlement in full, while 2.89 million will see theirs modified or withdrawn, concentrated where recent growth has been most explosive.”
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A Reform UK Treasury spokesperson added that the objective of the changes is to focus on recovery rather than mere maintenance of claimants, noting that the party plans to invest an additional £1.85 billion annually in services such as talking therapies, physiotherapy, and employment support. The goal is to reverse the current trend where fewer than 1% of Universal Credit health claimants gain employment each month.
Reflecting on his upbringing, Mr Jenrick said, “Growing up in Wolverhampton amidst the dislocation and deindustrialisation of the Black Country, I saw why the welfare state matters.” He emphasised the need for the state to support people in times of hardship, but criticised what he characterised as neglect through inactivity: “But dumping our young people onto welfare isn’t compassion; it’s neglect. We are not lifting people out of misfortune. We are abandoning them to it, and calling it kindness.”
He concluded with a call for substantial reform: “Unlike the other parties, I’m not going to sit by and watch. Now, we stop patching. Britain is broken, but it can be fixed with real change. We’ll save the welfare state, and we’ll do it by revolutionising it.”