Universal Credit and PIP to be cut for millions in Reform's DWP overhaul - what you need to know

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Reform are plotting major changes to the disability benefit regime that could save the Government up to £50billion

Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) could be in for a major overhaul under Reform's proposed Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) benefit reforms.

Nigel Farage's party has unveiled proposals to abolish the primary disability benefit and the health component of Universal Credit for working-age adults, in what the party claims would deliver £50billion in savings to the public purse.

The party's Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick described the package as the most sweeping overhaul of Britain's welfare system in a generation.

According to the party's own estimates, close to three million recipients could have their disability and sickness payments either removed or altered under the plans.

Mr Jenrick pointed to the 6.9 million people currently drawing disability benefits, contending that surging claim numbers cannot be attributed solely to rising rates of severe physical illness.

Mental health and behavioural condition claims among working-age adults have trebled since 2002, he added.

Under the proposed framework, a new Health Security Allowance would be created to provide assistance to those deemed "gravely ill and severely challenged".

For claimants with less severe conditions, direct cash payments would cease. In their place, local councils and mayors would administer disability support accounts, which recipients could draw upon for equipment, home adaptations, transport costs and personal assistance.

Mr Jenrick said: "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that 2.16 million will keep their present cash entitlement in full, while 2.89 million will see theirs modified or withdrawn, concentrated where recent growth has been most explosive."

Of the projected £50billion in total savings, some £22billion would stem from the disability benefit changes alone.

Employers could be compelled to fund "return to work cover", bearing the costs for the initial two years after a member of staff is signed off sick.

Mr Jenrick argued this would create a "strong economic incentive" for companies to help employees resume their roles.

Those who remained out of work beyond the two-year mark would face a single, rigorous in-person assessment designed to "screen out vexatious and fraudulent claims".

A Labour Government spokesperson rejected the proposal, calling the £50billion figure "fantasy economics, built on stripping support from disabled people and shifting costs onto employers".