As a storm of reviews and attempts to change the benefits system are ramped up in 2026, being well informed and fighting back are the things that will make a positive difference for claimants.
Last year, Labour succeeded in getting through its cuts to the health element of universal credit for new claimants, which come into force this April.
But claimants fought back ferociously against PIP cuts, inflicting a huge defeat on the government.
The lesson that ministers have taken from that mauling is that they need to persuade their own MPs of the justification for cuts long before anything goes to a vote, rather than springing things on backbenchers and hoping to force them through before opposition can build.
As a result, this year will see the Streeting, Milburn and Timms reviews report back and it’s unlikely any of them are intended to do claimants any favours.
We don’t expect to see Labour make any major changes to PIP this year, but we could discover what they have planned before the end of the year, once the Timms review reports.
There are also issues such as when and whether the WCA is to be abolished, whether Unemployment Insurance benefit will be brought in and whether young people will lose access to the UC health element. Again, this may be the year that we discover what is going to happen, rather than the year that new rules come into force.
So, we’ve revived the PIP/UC changes page that many people relied on during last year’s battles.
It includes information on, amongst other issues:
- the Streeting mental health and neurodiversity overdiagnosis review
- the Milburn UC cuts for youth review
- the Timms PIP review
- UC changes
- Fewer PIP reviews more WCA reassessments
- More face-to-face assessments for PIP and WCA
- Motability changes
We’ll be keeping the page regularly updated, so that you can track what’s coming.
We’ve also revived the What you can do page, which thousands of claimants used to discover ways to influence MPs during Labour’s attempt to slash PIP eligibility.
At the moment there’s information on contributing to the Milburn review and to the Commons work and pensions committee NEET review, as well as all the general suggestions for actions you can take to raise awareness of benefits issues.
We know it’s easy to feel hopeless when you see the rising tide of anti-claimant propaganda being pumped out by the press and the government. But ministers were defeated last year largely by the clamour of outrage directed at their MPs by ordinary claimants around the country. And much of that outrage came from Benefits and Work readers, who shared campaigning tips, copies of emails and mutual support and encouragement on these pages.
We genuinely believe that, with Labour struggling desperately in the polls and MPs wondering if they will still have a job by the Autumn 2029, claimant activism could still work the same wonders in 2026 as it did in 2025.
