Tories promise to save £2.5billion a year on benefits crackdown

By SOPHIE CHURCH - POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 22:00, 27 May 2026 | Updated: 22:10, 27 May 2026 The Conservatives have pledged to save £2.5 billion a year by reassessing benefits claims for mild mental health or neurodivergent conditions. Under plans announced on Wednesday, the Tories will comb through 720,000 claims for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefits for conditions such as anxiety, depression and ADHD. And for every £1 spent reviewing each claim, they hope to save £10 on those they then deem ineligible for welfare. The party expects a majority of the 720,000 claiming for such disability benefits will have their support withdrawn. This comes as one in five new PIP claims were awarded for mild mental health disorders or neurodivergent conditions in January this year. And the number of people with anxiety, depressive disorders or ADHD has increased by 256 per cent since 2019. But Keir Starmer was forced into an embarrassing U-turn on his plans to tackle Britain's soaring benefits bill last year after uproar from his backbenches. And 4.7 million people are now set to claim PIP allowance by the end of this Parliament – an increase of over 1.1 million under Labour. The Conservatives have pledged to save £2.5 billion a year by reassessing benefits claims for mild mental health or neurodivergent conditions Keir Starmer was forced into an embarrassing U-turn on his plans to tackle Britain's soaring benefits bill last year after uproar from his backbenches Helen Whately, shadow work and pensions secretary, accused Labour on Wednesday of 'failing young people, failing taxpayers, and driving the welfare bill through the roof' by abandoning its benefits crackdown. And she said: 'We cannot go on writing these people off – particularly thousands of young adults before their lives have even begun.' If elected, the Conservatives will review an extra 601,000 claims for mild mental health conditions, on top of the 118,000 cases which are currently due for review. The party estimates each reassessment would cost £384, bringing the total cost for the additional reassessments to £231 million. Is it fair to target people with anxiety and ADHD in a benefits crackdown? What's your view? Share or comment on this article: Tories promise to save £2.5billion a year on benefits crackdown e-mail Add comment window.articleShortUrl = 'https://mol.im/a/15853163'; adverts.addTaboolaPosition({ position: "thumbnail", id: "taboola-below-article-thumbnails" }) adverts.addTaboolaPosition({ position: "afterArticle", id: "taboola-below-main-column" }) DM.later('bundle', function (){ DM.SHOUT = {}; DM.SHOUT.shoutChannels = '{"disabledMolShout":false,"disabledChannels":[]}'; DM.SHOUT.isOldArticle = false; }); DM.later('bundle', function (){ DM.has("reader-comments", "ReaderComments", { gplusClientId: '746589970956-e10ciaf67a1id9ggu75ph3ds0sthn7j6.apps.googleusercontent.com', total: 0, offset: 0, allowNewComments: true , moderated: false }); }); Comments 0 Share what you think No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.