The Labour government has got its severely weakened welfare bill through its third reading without further defeats, after the major concessions made before and during the second reading.
The bill passed its third reading by 336 votes to 242.
47 Labour MPs voted against the bill at third reading, 333 Labour MPs voted in favour, along with 3 independents.
This compares with the second reading, where 49 Labour MPs voted against.
Readers will be well aware of the dramatic scenes during the second reading of what was then the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment bill, when Labour was forced to abandon the PIP 4-point rule entirely in order to avoid defeat.
There were no such scenes on this occasion. The chamber was largely empty as the amendments were debated, only filling up for the votes. All the government amendments to the bill, including the promise to remove clause 5, the 4-point rule clause, were agreed.
Every non-government amendment failed, except for one relating to co-production of the Timms review, which was withdrawn after concessions from the government – see Timms review below.
Bill title
The short title of the bill has been changed from the “Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill” to the “Universal Credit Bill”, reflecting the fact that the bill no longer has anything to do with PIP.
PIP
Personal independence payment (PIP) is no longer affected by the bill in any way, either for existing claimants or new claimants. The 4-point rule has been entirely abandoned.
There will be no changes to PIP until after the Timms review has been completed, currently expected to be in Autumn 2026.
Universal Credit
New universal credit (UC) health element claimants from April 2026 will have their UC health element almost halved and frozen.
Existing UC LCWRA claimants will not be affected by the cut or the freeze. New claimants who meet the severe conditions criteria or who are terminally ill will also be protected from the cut and the freeze.
The standard rate of UC will rise by 4.5% above inflation by 2029/30.
Severe conditions criteria
There have been no changes to the extremely hard to meet severe conditions criteria as set out in the bill. These will come into force for new claims in April 2026 and will decide whether claimants receive the higher rate of the UC health element and whether they are subject to reassessment..
Timms did seek to reassure MPs claiming:
"The severe conditions criteria in the bill exactly reflects how the functional tests are applied at present. That is in guidance. It’s being moved in this bill into legislation. It does take account of Parkinson’s. It does take account of MS. Because people need to meet the descriptors reliably, safely, repeatedly and in a reasonable time frame. And so I can give a very firm assurance to those who are concerned about how the severe conditions criteria will work for those on fluctuating conditions.
"The word constantly here refers, as I said in my intervention earlier, to the functional criteria needing to apply at all times, not to somebody’s symptoms."
We consider this reassurance to be disingenuous. We’ll be writing more about this in the near future.
Timms review
The Timms review is not part of the bill. However, Labour MP Dr Marie Tidball sought to insert a new clause into the bill relating to co-production of the review. Dr Tidball did not put forward the clause for a vote after receiving reassurances from Timms at the end of the debate.
Timms called the new clause a “helpful checklist” and said that the government would "closely consult with and actively involve persons with disabilities in carrying out the review."
He also said "I accept the proposal in section 4 of her new clause for a group to co-produce the review. Not so much to provide independent oversight as to lead and deliver it . . . I agree with her that the majority of group member need to be disabled people or representatives of disabled people's organisations and that they need to be provided with adequate support, including towards their cost of travel and taking part. . . The outcome of the review will be central to the legislation that follows"
The Timms review is still expected to report in Autumn 2026.
Everything else
The bill only covers those three issues. Every other proposal, such as the abolition of the WCA, the proposal to amalgamate contributory ESA and JSA into a single time limited contributory benefit and not paying 18-21 year old PIP recipients the health element of UC is not affected by last night’s vote. They will all require separate legislation of their own.
What happens next
At the time of writing we do not know if the bill has been certified as a money bill. If it has not, then it will go to the Lords who can put forward amendments in the normal way.
If it is a money bill, it will still go to the House of Lords, but this is a formality. In theory, the Lords can suggest amendments but, because it is a money bill, the government are free to simply ignore them. After one month the bill as currently written will become law.
The changes in the bill, however, will not come into force until April 2026.
