‘A cruel penalty’: disabled people face lower benefit payments if conditions not deemed lifelong

Government data estimates that by 2029-30, 730,000 future universal credit recipients will miss out on higher benefit rate. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

Hundreds of thousands of severely ill and disabled people making new claims will have their benefits cut if the government assesses that their condition might improve, charities have said.

In April, the health element of universal credit – an extra payment for people assessed as too unwell to work or prepare for work – will be halved to £50 a week and frozen for new claimants unless their condition is found to be terminal or severe and lifelong with no prospect of improvement.