Trade unions reacted with fury to Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall’s announcement.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Targeting the most vulnerable with benefit cuts to meet arbitrary fiscal rules is an immoral choice at any time, but at a time of rising poverty, long NHS waiting lists and when the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite is abhorrent.”

She said the union, whose members include staff working in Jobcentres, would be “campaigning with allies to oppose these cruel cuts”.

National Education Union chief Daniel Kebede said: “It is hard to conceive of a Labour government treating the most vulnerable members of society any worse.

“For pensioners who have lost the winter fuel allowance, parents coping with the two-child benefit cap, and now the targeting of disabled adults, cruelty is becoming a hallmark of this Government. It is simply indefensible.”

Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whatley has accused the Labour government of opposing welfare reforms while in opposition.

She said that while her party had identified these problems, Sir Keir Starmer’s party entered government with “empty notebooks”.

The Tory MP agreed that the welfare bill is “too high” and said: “Spending more on sickness benefits than we do on defence is not the sign of a strong country.”

However, she said Labour’s announcements raised “more questions than answers”.

“Fundamentally this is too little, too late,” she said. “The fact is £5 billion just doesn’t cut it with a bill so big, going up so fast. She needed to be tougher.”

Liz Kendall’s package of welfare reforms, expected to save £5bn, are part of the government’s plan to slash the benefits bill and encourage people back into work. But what exactly was announced?

• The government ruled out freezing or means testing personal independence payments (PIP), but announced they will significantly tighten access to the benefit
• A new ‘Right to try’ scheme to allow people to find work without risk of losing benefits
• An increase in benefit claim reassessments, which will be done face-to-face, while those with the lifelong health conditions will never be reassessed
• A ‘Keep Britain Working’ review to help establish what employers can do to keep people in employment
• The work capability assessment (WCA) will be scrapped in 2028
• Ministers will launch a consultation a on merging jobseekers allowance and employment support allowance, allowing people who have paid into the system to get higher benefit payments

The Government will consult on merging jobseeker’s allowance and employment support allowance, the Work and Pensions Secretary said, which will allow people who have paid into the system to get higher benefit payments for a period of time.

Liz Kendall said it was a “major reform of contributory benefits”.

The proposal would merge the two benefits into a time-limited unemployment insurance which is paid at a higher rate.

Claimants would not have to prove they are unable to work, in order to receive it.

She said: “So if you have paid into the system, you’ll get stronger income protection while we help you get back on track.”

Anela Anwar, chief executive of anti-poverty charity Z2K said: “These shocking and dangerous proposals would have a devastating effect on families who are already living in poverty.

“The plans make a mockery of the government’s commitments to tackle child poverty and the widespread reliance on food banks.

“These plans will remove support from people who have the most severe health conditions, many of whom have virtually no prospect of entering the labour market any time soon. It cannot be right for the government to seek to balance the books on the backs of those who are most in need of support.

“Despite the government’s rhetoric, the truth is that these are panicked cuts which represent a return to the same old failed approach of prioritising short-term savings over real reform. An approach which not only fails disabled people, but which has also been shown to fail to generate long-term savings for government.

“If the government is serious about meaningful reform, it must rethink these reckless proposals to ensure that those with the most severe disabilities are protected. We need a social security system that we can all rely on in times of need.”

The Work and Pension Secretary said there would be a “decisive shift” in favour of prevention and early intervention, to stop people leaving the workforce.

Liz Kendall said nearly four million people are in work, despite having a work-limiting health condition, and 300,000 stop work ever year. Chances of people returning to work are five times higher within the first year of them being signed off.

Ms Kendall said the Government needed to do “far more” to help people stay in work and get back to work. She cited giving statutory sick pay to the lowest-earning workers, and more rights to work from home would help people stay in jobs.

She said plans are being trialled for GPs to refer people to employment advisers rather than signing them off sick.

Ms Kendall said the Keep Britain Working review lead by former John Lewis boss Sir Charlie Mayfield will help establish what employers can do to keep people in work.

She said: “So we help more employers offer opportunities for disabled people, including through measures like reasonable adjustments, alongside our green paper consultation on reforming access to work so it is fit for the future.”

The Tory benches are noticeably thinly populated for a major statement on benefits.One absentee is Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

It has been left to Helen Whately, the shadow work and pensions secretary, to lead the Tory front bench.

But for an area where the Tories usually hope to make political hay, their absence from this fight is surprising. Perhaps it is because Labour is doing what they would want to do in cutting the welfare budget.

Liz Kendall has confirmed the government will not freeze PIP, nor will they means test the benefit – in what appears to be a watering down of initial plans being considered by the government.

It comes amid growing concern over a rebellion from Labour MPs, many of whom took particular issue with the prospect of freezing the payments.

While Downing Street will be hoping that the concession will win over concerned MPs, the work and pensions secretary confirmed that access to PIP will be tightened, something that is likely to still pose an issue for many in the party.

Ms Kendall has confirmed that the eligibility for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will effectively be tightened, resulting in less claimants being eligible for the benefit.

While this won’t affect those who currently have an entitlement, it will affect them when it comes to reapplying or being reassessed after the new rules come into force.

At the moment, PIP is paid based on two parts – daily living and mobility – at a higher or lower rate dependent on severity. This means there are four possible weekly payment levels ranging from £28.70 to £184.30.

Today’s sees the criteria to qualify for these payments rates changed.

Assessors currently ask applicants to carry out a range of activities to and measure these against a set list of ‘descriptors’ of what they can and can’t do. Labour has changed increased the number of points applicants need to score against these descriptors to be found eligible for the benefit.