{"id":1291,"date":"2025-12-15T07:50:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T07:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/?p=1291"},"modified":"2025-12-15T18:03:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T18:03:38","slug":"major-announcement-on-universal-credit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/major-announcement-on-universal-credit\/1291\/","title":{"rendered":"DWP issues major announcement on Universal Credit \u2014 It will affect millions as benefits will be lowered"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued a major announcement on Universal Credit<\/strong>. The announcement details all the upcoming changes to expect, including which benefits will be lowered. The DWP hopes that these changes will lead to an increase in employment and improve society as a result. However, the DWP’s announcement has led to increased concern for thousands of Britons. Discover what all the upcoming changes entail, and how they could potentially affect you going forward.<\/p>\n

DWP issues major announcement on Universal Credit<\/h2>\n

The DWP has issued a major announcement on Universal Credit. This announcement entails all the upcoming changes in 2026<\/strong> that will hopefully address the Universal Credit’s “perverse system.” These changes will affect millions, and some will be for the better, while others will be for the worse. The Work and Pensions Committee has voiced its apprehension about the upcoming changes.<\/p>\n

One of these changes that has the committee apprehensive is that the benefits for specific beneficiaries will be lowered. The committee has urged the DWP to delay these benefit decreases, especially considering the lack of policies, employment support, and labour market support to encourage Britons to remain employed. If not, the impact of these upcoming benefit decreases will be devastating.<\/p>\n

Millions will be affected by the changes<\/h2>\n

April 2026 will be a period of change for millions of Britons. Some of the upcoming changes will be widely celebrated, while others will not. The surprise boost to the new State Pension<\/a> will result in millions of pensioners being overjoyed. Another cause for celebration will be the increase in the standard allowance<\/strong> of the Universal Credit.<\/p>\n

According to the research briefing by the House of Commons Library, the Universal Credit increase rate will be higher than the inflation rate each year from April 2026. As a result, the standard allowance will be 4.8% higher by 2029\/2030 than it would have been under the usual Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation rate increase.<\/p>\n

Government research has found that changes to the Universal Credit rates will lead to 50,000 fewer people living in relative poverty in 2029\/2030 (after housing costs are calculated in). Unfortunately, some benefits will also be lowered, affecting some beneficiaries in particular.<\/p>\n

Some benefits will also be lowered<\/h2>\n

The “limited capability for work and work-related activity” (LCWRA) element of the Universal Credit will change from April 2026. Usually, someone with a disability or a qualifying health condition can benefit from the LCWRA in addition to the standard Universal Credit. However, the UK Government argues that the LCWRA element is the main cause of the “perverse system,” which is why change was inevitable.<\/p>\n

Now, from April 2026, new claimants will have to face a decreased LCWRA element, as it “better encourages those who can work to enter or return to employment.”<\/p>\n

The LCWRA element will be lowered by nearly 50%<\/strong>, from \u00a3432.27 monthly to \u00a3217.26 monthly. This amount will then be frozen annually until 2029\/2030. The Select Committee Chair, Debbie Abrahams MP, has raised concerns about increased disability poverty risk. She added that:<\/p>\n

“This is not only discriminatory, but without mitigations, will potentially push more people with disabilities and health conditions into poverty, exacerbating their condition and pushing them further away from the labour market.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The DWP has responded to the Work and Pensions Committee, acknowledging the need for more transparency and additional details<\/strong> on all the upcoming changes planned for Universal Credit. The additional details will reportedly be shared in “due course.” This will be extremely helpful for the millions of people who will be affected. While you await more information about the upcoming changes, we recommend reviewing the DWP’s five groups that will be ‘ineligible’ for Winter Fuel Payments<\/a> until further notice.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: Our coverage of one-off payments, support payments, tax reliefs, tax refunds, tax credits and other payments is based on the official sources listed in the article. All payment amounts and dates, as well as eligibility requirements, are subject to change by the governing institutions. Always consult the official source we provide to stay up to date and obtain information for your decision-making.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued a major announcement on Universal Credit. The announcement details all the upcoming changes to expect, including which benefits will be lowered. The DWP hopes that these changes will lead to an increase in employment and improve society as a result. However, the DWP’s announcement has led … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1388,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1291"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1596,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions\/1596"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}