The Conservative Party has pledged to save £2.8bn annually by ending Disability Living Allowance (DLA) payments to families of children with milder cases of behavioural disorders, learning difficulties, or ADHD. This policy forms part of a wider series of measures that the party states will save £36bn from the welfare budget.
Conservative Proposals and Welfare Savings
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately stated that the existing system risks placing children on a conveyor belt toward a lifetime on benefits. Child DLA currently allows parents to claim between £30.30 and £194.60 per week to cover additional costs associated with raising a disabled child, provided the child has difficulty getting about or requires more care than a non-disabled child of the same age.
The Conservatives noted that child DLA is the fastest-growing benefit in the UK welfare system, referencing government statistics indicating an increase in cases from 521,476 in 2020 to 914,000. Under the proposed plans, only claimants with the highest need—representing about 30% of cases involving behavioural disorders, learning difficulties, or ADHD—would remain eligible for cash payments.
The remaining 70% would lose the cash payments but receive support through mental health services and family hubs, backed by a £1bn investment promised by the Conservatives. These changes would apply to new claims and reassessments, while individuals with physical disabilities would be exempt from the cuts.
Additional Welfare Cuts and Party Reactions
The party’s other proposed cuts include £13.7bn from changes to sickness and disability benefits by restricting payments for milder mental health issues and neurodiversity conditions like anxiety, depression, and ADHD. Further savings involve £9.5bn by making it harder for foreign nationals to claim benefits, £4.5bn by reducing local housing allowance payments, £3.1bn by reintroducing the two-child benefit cap, and £1bn from tackling fraud.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch stated that millions of people can and do contribute to the economy and their communities despite facing serious challenges. Badenoch added that telling a young person their ADHD makes them defective is more destructive to their future than the condition itself.
The Labour Party criticized the plan, with a spokesperson describing it as a charter for homelessness and human misery that would push people into hardship and increase state costs. Labour stated that the Conservatives designed the current system and noted that the government plans to tackle the collapse in face-to-face assessments, introduce personalized employment support, and provide opportunity through a Youth Guarantee.
External organizations also condemned the strategy, with the Child Poverty Action Group stating the proposals would cause the largest overnight increase in child poverty since records began. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper argued that disabled people and children growing up in poverty would pay the price for the policies.
Meanwhile, the Labour government stated it wants to bring the benefits bill down without setting a timetable, with further details expected after reviews by former minister Alan Milburn and Minister Sir Stephen Timms are published in November.
