The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced that it will put “protections in place” to ensure that “no one experiences financial loss” when Work Capability Assessments (WCA) are scrapped as part of upcoming changes to the benefits system.
The UK Government recently published the Health and Disability White Paper, which lays out proposed reforms to the benefits system. As part of its shake-up, the DWP has announced plans to scrap WCAs to encourage people who need to claim benefits back into work. It’s important to keep in mind that these planned changes in the White Paper are proposals and will be debated in Parliament before coming into force in 2026/27.
WCAs currently provide decisions on whether a person is fit for work for the purpose of their Employment Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit allowance. Under the new proposals, instead of undergoing a WCA, the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment would be used to decide whether a person will receive the new Universal Credit health element.
