What welfare cuts do you think Sunak is about to announce in budget?

[caringcarer]

It's been reported that Richi Sunak said there will be tax cuts in the budget before the election and then more after the election so people who work hard will gain more and the government will curb spending on welfare. So, what welfare cuts do you think he is planning? I wonder whether he will reduce the triple lock on pensions to a double lock. Will he make single parents with DC over 7 work more hours to get UC top up. So maybe make them work 20 or even 25 hours. Do you think the £300 CoL payments will stop, as inflation is now much lower? I'm not advocating for these cuts just curious to what they could be. Can anyone think of others they might implement? Also which tax cuts could he be thinking of introducing? Threshold going up from £12,500 to £13k or inheritance tax go up a bit?

Cutting welfare for disabled claimers would be definitely awful. However, spending 17 million so far on the police force for the Pro-Palestine marches is money we do not have. Why are we allowing these ongoing marches? Maybe time the organisers and attendees pay to from their pocket.

Agreed. A nd the process of re-assessments is such a shambles at the moment with people going months, sometimes years past re-assessment dates without being assessed because the system is so overwhelmed. At least with the old ESA system you had to report that you had returned to work and it had to be approved. Now on Uc it seems like anyone can start work and still receive LCWRA ( and the benefits that go with that ) and still not be re-assessed as to whether the situation has changed for months and months after going back to work. I think once you reach the point where you can work a certain number of hours for a period of time it should be stopped but sort of dormant so that if health deteriorates again it can be easily re-started without going through the whole assessment procedure again. I do accept that many conditions will be fluctuating and flare up meaning some people have periods of time where they can work and then are off sick again.

Pensions absolutely are a benefit in the UK. They are funded by those currently working.

It is not like the system you have in places like Singapore (I think) where you are required by law to pay in a defined contribution each month and then have a pot of your own that grows over time.

DLA and PIP are paid to many working people. They are not an “out of work” benefit.

One rights worker on the radio yesterday was saying that it's probably going to be a case of looking at the huge upswing in DLA claims for children and those claiming because of mental health.

Who knows?

Believe me you are much better off under the Scottish system!

So do you provide care for your DC? There are many who have to provide the level of care that means they cannot go out to work. Also seems there are 2 parents in your household? Many disabled children only have one available parent. What are your suggestions for them..?

The "welfare" he should change is the indirect welfare given to businesses whose workers need UC to top up miserly salaries

If the business can't operate at a living wages then it's being supported by my taxes

You misunderstood. I didn't say people should do some work or be made to. I said those who can (and have a job) and are able/happy to. Which means if you can't work either because of disability or unable to find what would suit your disability or caring needs, then LCWRA but if you can and have a job (a lot do and want to), then LCW.

I also said LCW should come with no pressure to find work or keep a job. It's simply based on ability to do work no matter how small and that ability is determined by the claimant and their condition, not uc. If they can't any longer they can get re-assessed into LCWRA.

Yes, this.

Absolutely this.

Well it happened. Are we only allowed if we are supporting one view? Sorry if it bursts someone's bubble that women did have opportunities in the 70s. Once I got my qualifications I made sure the people I was managing got the same chances. At one point all the clerical staff in my team were attending courses. Maybe you'd be happier if that hadn't happened.

It seems they are looking at reducing the amount of people claiming ESA, or its equivalent.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/jan/07/rishi-sunak-says-he-wants-to-cut-workers-taxes-this-year-and-may-reduce-benefits

If they cut income tax I hope they look at raising the personal allowance amount rather than just 1p off the basic rate etc.

I'd like to see that go up in line with inflation and keep in line with it - much like the pension triple lock. It should be around £15k by now.

It would mean the biggest % cut to those who most need it.

I think organisers of marches should pay to fund the extra police work. This is what football clubs have to do.

I agree with this but I did hear that minimum wage was going up I think it was £1.02 from April. I think it needs to move up more but that's a decent start.

That's nice that you had equal opportunities in the 70s, well done. But does that really mean you can ignore the millions of other women in their 60s who did not experience equality of expectation and opportunity with their male counterparts in the workplace (as there is today)?
What an 'I'm alright Jack' mentality you have.

One of the reasons claims for LCW/LCWRA are currently so high is that there were basically no reassessments done during Covid. Claimants that were given awards before 2020 are still claiming 3 years later without any checks having been done.

The DWP doesn't have the staff (with or without contractors) to carry them all out. It's going to take years and years to sort out this mess.

@Iwasafool But it did not happen for 1000s of women did it? have a look at this this is not a VIEW but cold hard facts, I too had a private pension from an early age but this not about you or me its about the other women who did not can you imagine THIS being said to married women now? Even in 1966 an official enquiry by industrialists and trade unionists decided that the preservation of women's occupational pensions on marriage was unnecessary.
The ‘scandal’ of women’s pensions in Britain: how did it come about? | History and Policy

Yes exactly. So many people not been re-assessed for year who just carry on getting that extra £400 a month and often the work allowance too meaning they can get up to an extra £600 disregarded from their wages that they wouldn't otherwise. It's crazy, so many other things carried on during covid but re-assessments couldn't ? I also have clients whose PIP re-assessments are up to 18 months overdue because DWP are having so many new PIP claims that they have to prioritise those over re-assessments.

It also did happen for 1000s of women. As someone who left school at 15, had a baby at 18 it wasn't impossible.

I am on LCWRA, and my last re-assessment was 2019 (paper based).
I do now live in fear of that text that there is a message in my UC journal, and I will have to go through the whole process again. Except there are mumblings about LCWRA being changed to people on PIP only (which I am not). I am on UC for MH reasons, and not alone in feeling the only way out of this mess when it all really kicks off and effects me, will be suicide.

@Iwasafool Did you actually bother to read the link I gave you?? Once again you seem to think just because you could so could a lot of other women, I advise on pension forums so I know a lot more about pension then you obviously do, I too left school at 15 and I do not have a qualification to my name, I have 3 private pensions (two I have yet to take) a state pension which is far above the new full rate and savings but I still help up to 10 people a week apply for pension credit because they were not as fortunate as me. A bit of empathy and understanding is needed here which you seem to be lacking

Clearly when I started work in the mid 1980s at 18 I was very junior. But I have never worked anywhere that has not offered a workplace pension before they became compulsory (this is when my colleague opted out of paying £3 a week)
I agree that the WASPI women have a just cause. But to say that women could not pay into workplace pensions in the 80s is rubbish.
I do wonder why people insist on pushing the agenda that women are eternal victims?

@Katypp quite simply it depends on where you worked.

Workplace pensions were far from universal and where they were take up was way below 100% which was why auto-enrolment was introduced. Even then I've worked with people who chose to opt out becuase the £50/month was too much for their family budget.

In reality aged 18 is an excellent time to put money in a pension as you will have years of growth. In reality many 18 year olds think being 60 or 70 is so far in the future it's not worth thinking about - their parents are still under 50!.

Women were more likely than men to fall through that net for all the usual reasons.

But we are not talking about today's pensioners. We are talking about people due to retire in the next 10-20 years. These are the people who have had opportunities to make arrangements for their old age over and above the state pension and have chosen not to. I see no reason why the working population should compensate them for their bad choices. I will retire in 11 years time by the way.