Making Welfare Work: A Fairer Deal for Scotland
Reform UK has set out a major plan to rebuild the welfare system around a straightforward principle: people who genuinely need support should receive it, people who can work should be helped and expected to work, and the taxpayer should be treated fairly too.
Welfare exists for an important reason. It should provide security when somebody loses a job, support people who cannot work because of a serious disability or illness, and help people get back on their feet when circumstances go wrong.
But a welfare state can only retain public support if it is seen to be fair. Those who work and pay into the system have every right to expect that their taxes are spent responsibly. Equally, somebody living with a severe disability should not be made to feel that their legitimate support is under threat simply because government has failed to control other parts of the system.
Reform UK’s new Making Welfare Work plan attempts to address both sides of that equation. It proposes significant changes, but it also contains important protections for people with severe disabilities, existing disabled children and others who genuinely depend upon support.
Robert Jenrick Presents Reform UK’s Welfare Plan
Watch the full presentation setting out Reform UK’s proposals to tackle the rising welfare bill, protect those who genuinely need support and help more people back into work.
The plan in three numbers
Why does Reform believe the system needs to change?
The scale of welfare dependency has grown dramatically. Reform’s paper notes that 6.6 million people were receiving out-of-work benefits at the latest count used in its analysis, while more than 330,000 work-capable adults had remained on Universal Credit under “Seeking Work” conditions for more than a year.
Disability and incapacity claims have also risen sharply. The paper records 2.2 million working-age incapacity benefit claimants in 2018/19, rising to an expected 3.9 million in 2026/27 and forecast to exceed four million by the end of the decade.
Reform’s argument is not that every person receiving support is doing something wrong. Far from it. The concern is that a system designed to distinguish between temporary difficulty, manageable health conditions and severe long-term disability is increasingly failing to do so.
At the same time, Reform says taxpayers are losing billions through fraud, error and welfare payments to people who are not British citizens. The party’s plan therefore tackles several different problems rather than treating welfare reform simply as a matter of cutting individual benefit rates.
What would actually change?
1. Long-term claimants who can work would be expected to contribute
Someone who is genuinely work-capable and has remained on Universal Credit’s Seeking Work regime for more than 12 months would be required to undertake a part-time community placement while continuing to look for a normal job.
The requirement would normally be 20 hours per week, leaving time for job applications and interviews. Local councils would organise placements according to local needs.
Examples in Reform’s plan include improving parks and public spaces, clearing litter and fly-tipping, maintaining street furniture, helping libraries and leisure facilities, maintaining council properties, clerical work and supporting registered charities.
2. Welfare would principally be reserved for British citizens
Reform proposes making British citizenship a condition for accessing almost all non-contributory benefits.
This would include Universal Credit, Housing Benefit and a range of other benefits. The rules would apply to existing as well as future claims.
There would be exceptions. Contributory State Pensions, Armed Forces compensation and War Widows Pension would remain available where appropriate. Children would not lose eligibility for free school meals, and a British child of non-British parents would retain eligibility for Child Benefit.
3. Disability support would be redesigned — with protection for severe cases
This is one of the most substantial parts of the policy and, understandably, the part likely to concern existing claimants most.
Reform proposes a single Disability Needs Assessment to replace separate health assessments and decide what type of support somebody actually needs.
Severe and enduring disabilities would continue to qualify for protected cash support. For less severe conditions, support would increasingly be directed towards identifiable disability-related costs, treatment, rehabilitation and help with employment rather than automatically providing an unconditional cash payment.
4. Employers would have a stronger role in getting people back to work after illness
Reform proposes a new system called Return to Work Cover. For people who become ill while employed, the first two years after Statutory Sick Pay expires would normally be covered through their employer or an insurer.
The aim is to stop a temporary illness from becoming a permanent exit from the workforce. Employers would have an incentive to make reasonable adjustments, support rehabilitation and keep the connection between worker and workplace alive. Reform proposes reducing employer National Insurance to offset the average cost.
5. A much tougher approach to fraud and error
Reform cites an estimated Universal Credit fraud-and-error rate of 8.5% — roughly £1 in every £12 spent.
The party proposes expanding targeted case reviews across the welfare system and increasing frontline counter-fraud capacity, including an additional 6,000 officers beyond the 3,000-person uplift already announced in existing government plans.
What does all this mean for Scotland?
Scotland has a more complicated welfare settlement because responsibility is divided between Westminster and Holyrood. Some benefits are reserved to the UK Government, while others are devolved.
Reform’s policy paper deals with this directly rather than pretending the same rules can simply be imposed everywhere.
Welfare to Work would apply in Scotland
Universal Credit remains a reserved benefit. Reform therefore states that its Welfare to Work programme would apply in Scotland without alteration.
That could have a particularly visible local benefit. Instead of somebody who is fit to work remaining at home indefinitely while taxpayers fund their benefits, councils could put that capacity to use improving the communities in which people actually live.
Appropriate training and certification would be provided where required, and claimants could receive up to £30 for each successfully completed week to help with costs such as food and travel. Taking a genuine job would allow somebody to leave the placement immediately.
Citizenship rules would apply automatically to reserved benefits
The proposed British-citizenship requirement would apply in Scotland to reserved benefits such as Universal Credit. Where a benefit is devolved, the Scottish Government would have to decide whether to follow the same principle.
Holyrood would have a decision to make on devolved disability benefits
Reform’s changes to the health element of Universal Credit would extend to Scotland because Universal Credit is reserved.
The disability payment side of the system is devolved, however. That means the Scottish Government would decide whether Scotland adopted Reform’s equivalent disability reforms and the proposed Disability Support Account model.
Reform’s paper makes an important financial point here. If Holyrood chose not to introduce equivalent reforms, the Health Security Allowance paid through the reserved system would be adjusted to avoid paying twice for the same support, and Scottish claimants would not receive the new Disability Support Accounts. The block grant adjustment would also reflect the welfare savings achieved elsewhere in the UK.
Why could this be good for Scotland?
Scotland faces the same fundamental challenge as the rest of Britain: a smaller proportion of people in productive work means a heavier burden on everybody who is working.
Getting more people into employment does more than reduce benefit spending. It expands the tax base, gives employers access to domestic workers and reduces the pressure to solve labour shortages simply by importing more workers from overseas.
Scottish councils could also gain directly from useful community work. Parks, streets, housing estates and public facilities all require labour and maintenance. Reform’s approach would allow taxpayers to see something tangible being returned to their communities while claimants rebuild work habits, acquire skills and obtain recent experience.
Most importantly, money that is no longer being lost through fraud, unnecessary dependency or payments to people Reform believes should not qualify can instead support lower taxation and properly funded public services.
What about people who are genuinely disabled?
This question matters, because welfare reform is too often discussed as though everyone receiving a benefit belongs to the same group.
They plainly do not.
Somebody with a severe neurological condition, profound learning disability, terminal illness or major permanent physical disability is in a completely different position from somebody with a temporary condition from which they are expected to recover.
Reform states that those with severe and enduring disabilities would retain protected cash support and would not face ordinary work requirements. Existing disabled children would also be protected from the proposed Child DLA changes.
Reform proposes that serious cases would receive a combined Personal Independence Payment and Health Security Allowance. Conditions cited in the plan include terminal illness, severe permanent physical disability, profound learning disability, severe autism with high support needs, severe enduring mental illness, major neurological disease and serious brain injury.
Importantly, Reform explicitly recognises that mental illness can be every bit as debilitating as physical illness. The distinction being proposed is one of severity and need, rather than simply whether a condition is physical or psychological.
Practical support instead of simply writing a cheque
A new Disability Support Account would be available where an assessment identifies genuine additional costs arising from a disability.
Depending on an individual’s needs, that could fund:
- specialist equipment and aids;
- adaptations to the home;
- mobility and transport support;
- communication assistance;
- personal assistance;
- workplace adjustments; and
- other verified disability-related services.
Reform also proposes investing an additional £1.85 billion a year in interventions intended to prevent people becoming permanently dependent on benefits, including cognitive behavioural therapy, physiotherapy and employment support.
Existing disabled children would be protected
Reform proposes changes to future child disability claims involving anxiety, depression and ADHD, with greater emphasis on the most severe cases and treatment for milder conditions.
However, the policy is explicit on two points: children already receiving disability support would not be affected, and the proposed change would not alter eligibility for children claiming because of other conditions.
Protecting honest claimants also means tackling fraud
Every pound fraudulently taken from the welfare system is a pound that cannot be used to help somebody who actually needs it.
That is why tougher enforcement should not be viewed as an attack on legitimate claimants. The people with the greatest interest in removing fraud from welfare are the millions of honest taxpayers and genuine recipients whose support depends upon public confidence in the system.
Frequently Asked Questions
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A welfare state people can believe in again
There should be no shame in needing help when illness, disability, unemployment or difficult circumstances strike. That is precisely why a welfare state exists.
But there should also be nothing controversial about expecting somebody who can work to make every reasonable effort to do so, or asking a long-term work-capable claimant to contribute something useful to the community supporting them.
Nor should protecting genuinely disabled people require us to pretend every claim represents the same degree of need.
For Scotland, these reforms offer the prospect of more people in work, more useful activity in our communities, less pressure on taxpayers and more resources focused where they are genuinely needed.
The principle is simple: support those who cannot work, help those who can return to work, expect a contribution from those able to give one, and make sure taxpayers’ money is treated with respect.
Making Welfare Work
This article summarises the main proposals contained in Reform UK’s Making Welfare Work: Reform UK’s Plan for Welfare. You can read the complete August 2026 policy document, including the detailed proposals, costings and implementation plans, below.
Read the Full Making Welfare Work Policy PDF
