The Government has confirmed a narrow but consequential change to disability and health-related benefits: starting paid or voluntary work will not, by itself, trigger a reassessment for Universal Credit (UC), Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Ministers describe this as enshrining the ‘Right to Try’ in legislation from April 2026, with implementation commitments recorded by the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC). (gov.uk)
The instrument amends the 2013 regulations for UC, PIP and ESA to make explicit that undertaking work for payment or in expectation of payment, or doing voluntary work, is not on its own a basis to initiate a Work Capability Assessment or a fresh PIP determination. SSAC’s published minutes summarise the policy intent plainly: the change codifies existing expectations and extends them to volunteering so that employment activity, in isolation, no longer prompts a reassessment. (gov.uk)
In practice, this means the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) cannot use the fact of starting a job or taking up volunteering, on its own, as evidence of a ‘relevant change of circumstances’ for UC or ESA assessments, nor as a standalone reason to re-determine PIP under regulation 11. The committee records that the principal purpose is to put beyond doubt-on the face of legislation-that paid or voluntary work in itself will not trigger a reassessment. (gov.uk)
Scrutiny is ongoing. Acting under section 172(1) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992, SSAC has taken the regulations on formal reference. In its letter to the Minister, the committee welcomes the aim but warns that the draft text lacks clarity on how work‑related activities short of starting work will be treated, and asks DWP to set out clear operational parameters and communications. (gov.uk)
What does not change is equally important. The underlying entitlement criteria for Limited Capability for Work or Work‑Related Activity and for PIP daily living/mobility remain intact. Reassessments can still occur where there is other evidence of a material change-such as a significant improvement in health-or at scheduled review points; the protection only covers the fact of working or volunteering on its own. (gov.uk)
Operational notes for advisers are already emerging from official records. SSAC confirms that PIP claimants are not required to report starting work as a change of circumstances, and reasons to contact DWP do not include entering employment. For UC and new‑style ESA, work coaches and decision‑makers are expected to ensure that taking up work or volunteering alone is not treated as a trigger for reassessment. (gov.uk)
The committee highlights delivery risks, including interactions with conditionality and sanctions for UC claimants who do not have an LCW/LCWRA determination. DWP has undertaken to clarify sanction decision‑making where health reasons make a job unsustainable, to avoid undermining the assurance that claimants can safely test work. (gov.uk)
This regulatory step sits within a wider reform programme. SSAC notes ministers’ intention, in due course, to remove the Work Capability Assessment and move towards a single assessment based on the PIP framework. Until then, the new provisions provide a limited but concrete assurance: work or volunteering, by itself, is not a trigger for reassessment. (gov.uk)
Timing and next steps. The statutory instrument states commencement on 30 April 2026. SSAC’s correspondence also records a ministerial commitment to have the policy in place by April 2026. Welfare advisers, local authorities and support organisations should update client communications and internal procedures in advance of the in‑force date. (gov.uk)