Reform UK unveils £50bn welfare overhaul plan ahead of policy release

Reform UK has drafted a sweeping welfare reform agenda that it claims will generate savings exceeding £50 billion, according to Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick. Central to the proposal is a £22 billion reduction in the disability programme, affecting almost three million claimants through modified or withdrawn payments. The party intends to replace certain benefits with locally managed accounts for transport and equipment, and to introduce a return-to-work cover that incentivises employers to reintegrate sick employees.

A rigorous, in-person disability assessment would be applied to those who have not returned to work after two years, while a regularly reviewed payment would remain for the gravely ill. Labour’s spokeswoman dismissed the numbers as fantasy economics and warned the plan would shift costs onto employers and vulnerable claimants. Reform UK aims to release a 50-page policy paper on Monday, describing it as the most comprehensive welfare redesign in a generation.