The UK government has announced a new Health and Disability white paper, which includes the scrapping of the work capability assessment (WCA) that currently decides whether someone with a health condition or disability is capable of working.
As part of the budget, Chancellor Philip Hammond also announced measures to encourage employment to fill the UK's 1.1 million job vacancies.
The move has been criticised by some, but Jeremy Hunt claimed that the change would "remove barriers to work".
Chancellor Philip Hammond used his budget speech to focus on increasing employment rates in the UK which includes measures to encourage people back into work to fill the UK's 1.1 million job vacancies.
In parallel, a new Health and Disability white paper was announced by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Jeremy Hunt that would scrap the work capability assessment (WCA) as part of a package of benefit reforms aimed at making changes to "remove barriers to work" for disabled people and those with long-term illnesses.
The shift is intended to ensure that disabled people receive additional Universal Credit payments (UC) which are paid to those on a low income, out of work or unable to work.
He proposed that this additional payment would be given to those already receiving the Personal Independence Payment (PIP), a benefit designed to help those with disabilities and long-term illnesses cover their living costs.
The proposed plan to remove the WCA component of benefit decisions has drawn criticism from some groups.
The Work and Pensions Committee recently listed ten recommendations on changes to disability benefits, which included renaming and reworking the WCA rather than scrapping it entirely.
Frances O'Grady, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, criticised the changes stating that "this government must do more than just tinker around the edges of a social security system that too often fails people when they most need it".
Conversely, the change received some praise.
Sir Ian Diamond, writing in The Telegraph argued that the government's move would make it easier for disabled people to get the support they need whilst retaining their independence.
As previously noted, the benefit system has not been without significant criticism in recent years, with some arguing that it is failing those most in need of welfare support.
A report by the United Nations in 2016 criticised the UK's record on disability rights, stating that the government had committed "grave" and "systematic violations" of the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People.
Nurses have also boycotted the WCA medical system with a petition signed by 100 senior doctors in 2017 arguing that it was damaging to patients' health and medical records as it focuses too much attention on claimants' abilities rather than disabilities.