Overview
- Universal Credit health‑element recipients began seeing Pathways to Work messages in their online accounts on Wednesday, April 8, offering free, voluntary job support with an option to request contact from an adviser.
- The 2026/27 Universal Credit rates took effect on April 6, raising the standard allowance while cutting the health element for new claims to £217.26 a month, with those who meet severe or end‑of‑life criteria keeping the higher £429.80 rate.
- The Institute for Fiscal Studies reports that 44% of new claimants do not take the DWP’s interest‑free advances during the five‑week first‑payment wait, and it urges clearer information and tracking of that non‑uptake as a progress measure.
- From this month, most new Personal Independence Payment claimants aged 25 and over will get at least a three‑year award that can rise to five years at review, as the DWP increases face‑to‑face assessments to tackle Work Capability Assessment backlogs and targets £1.9 billion in savings by 2030/31.
- Legislation due at the end of April will let people on ESA, PIP and the Universal Credit health element try work or volunteering without an automatic reassessment, which disability groups welcome as reassurance while warning that lower support for new claimants could strain living costs.