![\"Robert](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Jenrick.jpg\")
\t\tRobert Jenrick said the reforms “won’t be painless” (Ben Whitley\/PA Wire)\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tMonday 17 August 2026 12:20 pm\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\tRobert Jenrick said the reforms “won’t be painless” (Ben Whitley\/PA Wire)\t<\/p>\n
Reform UK\u2019s Robert Jenrick has said a \u00a350bn welfare cut plan allows the state to \u201csustainably pay\u201d for the triple lock pension.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a press conference on Monday, Jenrick said plans to strip welfare from around 3m people, including foreign nationals, would be the biggest overhaul of the benefits system in a generation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jenrick said the plan did not focus on pensioners and was \u201cpart of the motivation is to continue to provide the support that pensioners need\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is by doing tough things like this that we can continue to sustainably pay for the triple lock,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After his defection from the Conservatives, one of his first policies was to announce Reform\u2019s intention to keep the triple lock pension<\/a>. It ensures that the state pension is increased each year by whichever is highest out of wage growth, inflation or 2.5 per cent. Several economists have said that the triple lock pension is unsustainable for public finances as it allows pensioners to benefit from inflationary shocks while workers suffer from higher costs.<\/p>\n Under the wider benefits plans, Reform would abolish several elements of Universal Credit for working-age adults.\u00a0<\/p>\n Jenrick said nearly 7m people were receiving disability benefits, though the share of working-age people claiming for mental health and behavioural conditions has tripled since 2022. \u201cThis is not an epidemic of broken backs and lost limbs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Under the planned reforms a new, regularly-reviewed, health security allowance would provide support for the \u201cgravely ill and severely challenged,\u201d Jenrick said.<\/p>\n Jenrick: Reforms won\u2019t be \u2018painless\u2019<\/p>\n Cash payments for low-level conditions would end and be replaced with disability support accounts, run by local councils and mayors, to cover costs such as equipment, adaptations, transport and personal assistance.<\/p>\n Employers could be obliged to pay a \u201creturn to work cover\u201d insurance to fund the cost of the first two years after an employee is signed off sick.<\/p>\n Jenrick said firms would then have a \u201cstrong economic incentive\u201d to return the employee to work.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n