We have been contacted by lots of people recently who are worried about the proposed changes to the benefits system in the UK. The Government is proposing some large-scale reforms to how peoples' benefits will be administered and also changing the rules on who will be eligible for support.

The full extent of the changes has not been announced in detail yet but this page gives an introduction to what the Government has said so far. The proposals outlined below will not come into force immediately, so while many people will be very worried about what is proposed, it's important to realise that individual entitlement to benefits will not change overnight.

You can read more about what we're doing to make sure that the proposals take account of the real need of many people with autism to access these vital benefits at the bottom of the page.

Changes announced to DLA

In December 2010, the Government announced that from 2013, Disability Living Allowance (DLA) will be replaced by a new benefit called the 'Personal Independence Payment' (PIP).

This is expected to be for working-age disabled adults only. However, the Government is reviewing whether to replace child DLA too.

Find out more

Disability Living Allowance

The Government has announced that it will remove the Mobility Component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) from people who are in publicly-funded residential care from October 2012.

We know that this might affect people with autism who are in residential placements and we are working with other disability charities to put pressure on the Government to reverse this decision. In particular, we are working with Mencap and supporting their email action on the proposed change.

If this is affecting you, or your family, and you would like to take action and email your MP about the changes, you can take part in Mencap's campaign here.

In the budget, the chancellor announced that the Government wants to change the way that DLA claims for adults are assessed. We are expecting them to introduce a face-to-face assessment as part of this. We have met with ministers to explain our concerns about how this might work.

The changes are due to be introduced in 2013 and the Government will be launching a public consultation on the changes soon. We will be looking carefully at the proposed changes to make sure that the needs of people with autism are recognised in the changes.

Employment and Support Allowance

The last Government created a new benefit, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), which is meant to provide benefits and support to find work for people with a disability, such as autism. This is a benefit for people across the UK who find it hard to work due to their disability; the aim is to give more money to those facing the greatest barriers to accessing work and more support to those looking for work.

ESA replaces Incapacity Benefit. If you are a new claimant, you will be assessed for ESA. People who already claim Incapacity Benefit will be reassessed for ESA from 2011. We had significant concerns about the assessment process for ESA when it was first introduced, which was a key driver behind our Don't Write Me Off campaign.

We are continuing to put pressure on the Government about the assessment process and the other issues that were raised in Don't Write Me Off. We have also recently been asked by Professor Malcolm Harrington, who is reviewing the Work Capability Assessment (where you meet with a healthcare professional to discuss how your disability affects you), to make recommendations on how to amend it to ensure it meets the needs of people with autism. Read more here.

Recent changes to ESA

In order to get more people into work, the Government is limiting the length of time that people can claim contributory ESA (which is based on the National Insurance a person has made while they have been working) to 12 months. From that point, they will be moved over to income-based ESA, which is means-tested, so will not be awarded if a claimant has significant savings and/or a partner who works or has significant savings. Legislation is needed to do this, so any changes are unlikely before April 2012.

Universal Credit

As part of a major restructuring of the welfare system, the Government has announced that the following benefits will be merged into a single 'Universal Credit':

  • Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance
  • Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
  • Housing Benefit
  • Child Tax Credit
  • Working Tax Credit.


The Government's proposals for Universal Credit will be part of a Welfare Reform Bill which will be presented to Parliament in January 2011. If the proposals are passed by Parliament, it's likely that the first people would enter the Universal Credit system in 2013.

As part of the same announcement, the Government said that they would change the way that sanctions, for not complying with benefits rules, will work. More discretion will be given to advisors in the Jobcentre on when to impose sanctions (eg for not attending an interview). We are worried that this could lead to more people with autism facing sanctions, if advisors are not properly trained and do not properly understand autism. If you would like to know more about what we think about this, you can read our media response. We believe that training is key for all professionals that work with people with autism.

What we're doing

With such a large-scale reform of the benefits system, we are looking at the proposals carefully and will be putting pressure on the Government to make sure that people with autism do not miss out from the changes.

We know that people are worried about whether they will continue to receive the support they need, so we are working with Parliament and campaigning to make sure that people with autism are not unfairly affected.

A lot of the plans have not been finalised yet and we hope that we can work with the Government to improve support for people with autism in these areas.

If you would like advice on benefits, you can call the Autism Helpline on 0845 070 4004. As part of this, we run a Welfare Rights advice service that you might find it useful to contact.