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AN ESTIMATED 110,000 PEOPLE CLAIMING UNIVERSAL CREDIT WOULD BE IMPACTED KATE LALLY 02:11, 05 Jun 2025 New plans from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) would see thousands of

Universal Credit claimants lose almost £100 each week. Disability Rights UK is fighting to stop government plans to remove access to the health element of Universal Credit, now known as the

Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) element, for most adults aged 16-21. This would be the case for those of this age group who claim the benefit in their own

right. Campaigners say the proposal, if approved, would see almost 110,000 disabled young adults lose almost £100 each week. Contact, a charity which supports families with disabled

children, says this would have a "devastating financial impact not only on disabled young adults who are not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), but also on many who are in

education or low-paid employment". It adds that DWP plans push "disabled young adults and their families further away from employment prospects and further into poverty". The

Green Paper acknowledges that the government needs to “consider what special provisions need to be put in place for those young people where engagement with work or training is not a

realistic prospect”. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Liz Kendall, said in a speech on May 21: "Those with the most severe, life-long conditions that will never improve and

who can never work will have their Universal Credit protected, including young people aged under 22". Article continues below However, campaigners say that the criteria for severe

conditions has an "extremely high threshold". Under the proposals the changes would come in in the financial year 2027/28. The Green Paper is also consulting on allowing Disability

Living Allowance (DLA) to continue to the age of 18 rather than 16, something which Contact says it is in support of.