But what would that vision actually look like \u2013 and do the numbers really add up?<\/p>\n
The government will spend more than \u00a3350 billion on welfare benefits this year. Some \u00a3143bn of that goes on the state pension, which Farage\u2019s party has promised to protect. So how does Reform plan to cut nearly a quarter of the remaining \u00a3207bn?<\/p>\n
Read more:<\/p>\n
Slashing disability benefits<\/p>\n
The biggest chunk of Reform\u2019s proposed savings would come from health and disability benefits<\/a>. The party says its reforms could save around \u00a320bn in the long term.<\/p>\n For those with the most severe disabilities, Reform would combine PIP<\/a> and part of universal credit\u2019s health support into a flat-rate \u201chealth security allowance\u201d of \u00a3429.80 a month. Some separate support for additional disability-related costs would also be available.<\/p>\n For the Disability Benefits Consortium \u2013 a coalition of more than 100 charities, including Scope, Mencap, Parkinson\u2019s UK and the MS Society \u2013 the consequences are clear.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n \u201cScrapping PIP and the UC health element are cruel and dangerous proposals which would vastly increase poverty and worsen people\u2019s health,\u201d said Charles Gillies, the consortium\u2019s policy co-chair and senior policy officer at the MS Society.<\/p>\n The party would also introduce a new system of \u201creturn to work cover\u201d. If an employee remained off sick after their statutory sick pay ended, their employer \u2013 or an insurer \u2013 would be responsible for providing support for the next two years.<\/p>\n Anyone needing longer-term support would then face a new \u201cdisability needs assessment\u201d, replacing the current assessments for PIP<\/a> and universal credit.<\/p>\n \u201cThe objective is to reduce the number of people on disability benefits<\/a> by around 40%,\u201d the document reads. \u201cThe threshold for cash support will be significantly higher than today.\u201d<\/p>\n Existing claimants would not necessarily be spared. Reform says those with mental health conditions and what it calls \u201ctrivial conditions\u201d would be reassessed into the new system over three years.<\/p>\n The party says people with the most severe disabilities would be protected. But its plans would create a system that is \u201cmuch harder to qualify for\u201d, according to Tom Waters, associate director at the IFS.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n \u201cThere is relatively little detail on what the new assessment would actually entail,\u201d Waters said, adding that previous attempts to tighten the disability benefits system had seen savings fall \u201csignificantly short of government\u2019s expectations\u201d.<\/p>\n Last year, then-prime minister Keir Starmer was forced to row back on planned cuts to disability benefits after a severe backlash.<\/p>\n This new vision is even worse, said Gillies.<\/p>\n \u201cThese damaging proposals would deprive the vast majority of disabled people \u2013 including those with MS \u2013 of any form of health-related financial support from the social security system,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would also cause huge amounts of pressure for the NHS and other public services.\u201d<\/p>\n A disability rights campaigner known as Ben Claimant<\/a> issued a similar warning.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n \u201cWhat they are doing is not reducing cost, they are increasing it and moving it to different parts of the spreadsheet. Making it more hidden for headlines. It will create a greater burden on the NHS, local councils, social services, social care, the emergency services and education,\u201d he told Big Issue.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is needed is investment, not cuts. Investment in services, staff, support, education and training. We need our public services back to prevent the problems we are seeing now.\u201d<\/p>\n Making benefit claimants work<\/p>\n Reform would also overhaul the rules for people who are out of work.<\/p>\n Those judged capable of working but unemployed for more than a year could be required to carry out 20 hours a week of unpaid community work to keep receiving their benefits.<\/p>\n The document suggests they could be sent to clean streets, maintain parks or staff libraries<\/a>.<\/p>\n Those who refuse without what Reform considers a good reason could face sanctions.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Cutting support for foreign nationals<\/p>\n Another \u00a320 billion of Reform\u2019s claimed savings would come from restricting access to working-age benefits for foreign nationals.<\/p>\n The proposal would make non-UK citizens largely ineligible for benefits. There are currently around 1.3 million non-UK citizens claiming universal credit, according to the IFS, including 650,000 who are not in employment.<\/p>\n But calculating savings is far from straightforward.<\/p>\n \u201cHow much this saves would depend on how many of this group became citizens in response,\u201d Waters said.<\/p>\n The savings could be substantial, he said, if a Reform<\/a> government also made it difficult for anyone who had previously claimed benefits to become a British citizen.<\/p>\n But removing support would mean \u201clarge overnight cuts to claimants\u2019 incomes\u201d and \u201csignificant increases in hardship\u201d, the IFS warned. Some people in the group currently receive most or all of their income from benefits.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Amnesty International UK said the proposal amounted to \u201cscapegoating\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe same goes for people permitted to make this country their home,\u201d said Jen Clark, the charity\u2019s economic, social and cultural rights director. \u201cThe minority who claim social security do so on the same basis as other taxpayers. Stripping their benefits isn\u2019t fairness, it\u2019s scapegoating.\u201d<\/p>\n The policy could also prove difficult to negotiate with the EU. If Britain scraps benefits for EU citizens living here on long-term visas, Brits who claim benefits across EU countries could face sanctions in return.<\/p>\n Changing the inflation measure<\/p>\n One of Reform\u2019s proposals sounds technical: changing the measure of inflation used to increase benefits each year. But the IFS says it could have major consequences.<\/p>\n The party wants to use a lower measure of inflation, which it estimates could save \u00a34.8bn a year by 2033-34.<\/p>\n Waters called it \u201canother technical-sounding proposal that is in fact of real significance\u201d.<\/p>\n Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Compared with the current rules, he said, the change would \u201ccontinue to shrink the size of the benefit system indefinitely\u201d.<\/p>\n In other words, this would not be a one-off cut. If benefits rose more slowly year after year, the gap between what claimants received and what they would have received under the current system would continue to widen. As would the gap between benefits and the cost of living.<\/p>\n Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this?\u00a0Get in touch and tell us more<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Change a vendor\u2019s life.<\/p>\n Buy from your local Big Issue vendor every week \u2013 and always take the magazine. It\u2019s how vendors earn with dignity and move forward.<\/p>\n You can also support online: Advertising helps fund Big Issue\u2019s mission to end poverty<\/p>\n Thank you for standing with Big Issue vendors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"But what would that vision actually look like \u2013 and do the numbers really add up? 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