WELFARE REFORM BILL

The Welfare Reform Bill represents the most radical overhaul of the benefits system in a generation. Its focus is on helping people into work.

The centerpiece of the Bill is the creation of Universal Credit. This reform meets longstanding Liberal Democrat concerns around the complexity of the welfare system. It will:

• simplify and streamline the main welfare benefits into one single system;
• ensure that work always pays by removing barriers and disincentives to moving off benefits and into employment;
• Ensure that changes in circumstances are reflected in benefit levels in real time, ending the current system of overpayments and rebates; and
• alleviate poverty by boosting take-up and encouraging job market participation.

The Bill contains a number of further reforms, some of which are designed to make savings in the £90bn annual working-age welfare budget. These include changes to Disability Living Allowance, time-limiting of contributory Employment and Support Allowance, localisation of Council Tax Benefit, and a cap on total household benefits.

Some of these changes are difficult, but in each case a fundamental principle applies: those who cannot work will be protected, and those who can work will be supported into employment.