Andy Burnham has signalled that his Labour government will revisit welfare reform, confirming he wants to cut the benefits bill by "changing the nature of the support" available and making more awards conditional on claimants accepting opportunities offered to them. Any concrete changes are likely to wait until two government-commissioned reviews, into youth unemployment and the Personal Independence Payment (Pip), report their findings later this year, meaning the new prime minister is avoiding the blunt spending cuts that Sir Keir Starmer failed to push through in July last year.

Options reportedly under consideration include tightening conditionality for young claimants, possibly reviving a shelved plan to restrict universal credit's health element for under-22s, and overhauling Pip, which a review by disability minister Sir Stephen Timms found "no longer fit for purpose." Mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety and ADHD now account for 1.56 million of the four million Pip claimants (39 per cent), with claims almost doubling since 2019 and spending rising from £15 billion to around £32 billion in 2025/26. Previous attempts to tighten Pip eligibility criteria were abandoned after more than 100 Labour MPs rebelled, making a similarly blunt approach unlikely this time.