All the DWP changes expected in the Autumn 2024 Budget

The Autumn Budget is set to be announced tomorrow in the House of Commons, marking Labour’s first since 2010.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to announce ‘painful’ changes, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previous said.

He told Britons to brace themselves for a rough ride in a speech delivered in the garden outside Downing Street in August.

One major focus of the Budget will be the Department of Work and Pensions.

Winter fuel payments, Universal Credit changes and PIP payment changes are all expected to be addressed.

Let’s take a look at what we know so far about the upcoming Budget and how it will affect pensions.

PIP payment changes

PIP benefits, issued by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), are for people who need help with costs associated with their health condition or disability.

It falls into two components – daily living and mobility – which offers up to £470 and £328 a month respectively.

This year’s budget could see the amount of those eligible for PIP payments decrease, but changes won’t likely be enforced until 2025.

Until then, payments are likely to increase in line with inflation rates.

Winter fuel payments

Reeves has been criticised for cuts to the winter fuel allowance, but there’s a small chance she could reverse the cuts.

Today in the Commons, Conservative former minister Dame Harriett Baldwin said: ‘The living standards of a 90-year-old pensioner on a £13,500 income are falling sharply this winter, as a result of her decision to take away the winter fuel allowance.

‘Tomorrow she has the chance to increase that threshold, will she take it?’

It remains unlikely that Reeves will reverse the cuts to the Winter fuel payment scheme.

The Winter Fuel Payment is intended to help people (who are eligible) to stay on top of heating costs during the winter.

It used to be given to every pensioner in the country, but beginning this year, it’s only those who receive pension credit.

In September, MPs voted to cut the payment, citing the need to help fill a £22 billion ‘black hole’ in the country’s finances, discovered after the election.

Universal credit changes

There have been calls for the Chancellor to raise universal credit so people can afford basic necessities.

It’s believed the government could be planning changes which would cap the level of deductions to universal credit.

Monthly deductions currently sit at 25%, but could soon be lowered to as low as 15%, saving families on universal credit hundreds each year.

Benefit and state pension rises

State pensions are likely to rise by roughly 4% from April 2025, due to an increase in wages.

Currently, the state pension is £221.20 a week (£11,502 a year) for those who reached state pension age after April 2016, and £169.50 a week (£8,814 a year) for those who reached state pension age before April 2016.

Following the increase in wages, in April 2025 the state pension is expected to increase to £230.30 per week (£11,975) for those who reached state pension age after April 2016.

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