Tory plans to slash benefits for disabled kids will take UK back to 'dark ages', campaigners warn

Tory proposals to cut cash benefits for disabled children would take the UK back to the “dark ages”, campaigners have warned.

At last month’s Conservative Party conference, leader Kemi Badenoch pledged to slash annual welfare spending by £36.1bn if she became prime minister.

On Tuesday (10 November), she set out the policies that the party says would deliver these savings – including replacing disability living allowance (DLA) payments for children with “milder” cases of ADHD, behavioural disorders and learning difficulties with non-cash support.

Badenoch justified the plans by pointing out that “millions of people” still contribute to the economy “even when they face serious challenges”.

“Double amputees run marathons. People who are housebound do wonderful creative work from home. People with autism run some of the biggest tech companies in the world,” she said.

“If you tell a young person that their ADHD means they are defective and will never amount to anything, that mindset is likely to be more destructive to their future than the condition itself.”

But campaigners have expressed dismay at the policy package.

Child Poverty Action Group policy director Sara Ogilvie said the proposals – which include reinstating the two-child benefit limit – would “take the UK back to the dark ages, causing the biggest overnight increase in child poverty since records began”.

“We need all our politicians to commit to a plan to reduce child poverty rather than condemn the next generation to a future of struggle,” she continued.

Labour described the plans as a “charter for homelessness and human misery”, warning that they would push people into hardship and end up “costing the state more” in emergency support.

“Further reforms will follow the Milburn and Timms review,” the spokesperson continued.

Read more:

• Timms Review recommends changes to ‘dehumanising’ PIP assessment process
• British public don’t back cuts to disability benefits – even Reform and Tory voters
• Labour is facing calls to means-test disability benefit PIP. Here’s why it would push up poverty

What are Kemi Badenoch’s plans for DLA?

DLA is a payment that helps parents cover the additional costs of looking after a disabled child. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, families can receive between £30.30 and £194.60 a week, depending on the level of support their child needs.

The number of children receiving DLA has risen in recent years, from 521,476 in 2020 to around 914,000 in 2026.

The Conservatives say they would replace cash payments for children with less severe learning and behavioural difficulties with other forms of support. Under the proposals, only the 30% of children with the highest needs would continue to receive cash payments, with children with physical disabilities protected.

The party estimates that the changes would save £2.8bn a year, with £1bn reinvested in mental health services and family hubs.

ADHD, anxiety and depression have become lightning rods in the debate over welfare spending. Earlier this year, Reform proposed scrapping PIP in favour of a stricter system, aiming to reduce the number of people receiving disability benefits by 40%, including by removing support for many people with mental health conditions.

But it is unclear how much money excluding people on the basis of particular diagnoses would actually save. A Resolution Foundation report published last month found that fewer than 1% of PIP recipients reported having only anxiety, ADHD or autism. It concluded that exclusions based on these diagnoses “are unlikely to deliver significant savings”.

The report examined PIP rather than DLA, so its findings cannot be directly applied to child disability payments. However, it raises questions about the potential savings from diagnosis-based restrictions.

Where else would the Conservatives make cuts?

Reinstating the two-child benefit limit would save a further £3.1bn a year, the party claims.

Labour abolished the limit in March 2026, with the change taking effect in April. The government estimates that the move will lift 450,000 children out of poverty in the final year of this parliament.

Responding to criticism from the Child Poverty Action Group, Badenoch told the Guardian that “child poverty groups are there to say that there’s going to be more and more child poverty unless their demands are met”.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that annual welfare spending will rise to £431bn by 2031-32. Pensioner spending, including the state pension, is expected to account for £209.8bn of this.

The Conservatives have ruled out cutting the state pension, but say they would make savings elsewhere, including by withdrawing benefits from foreign nationals without EU settled status (£9.5bn), reforming housing benefit (£4.5bn) and tackling fraud and error (£1bn). Including the DLA cuts, changes to disability benefits would supposedly save £13.7 billion.

Labour’s Timms review is expected to be published this month. In it, the government will set out its plans to reform disability benefits. Disability minister Sir Stephen Timms has said that the current main disability benefit PIP is “not fit for purpose”.

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