Transforming UK Social Security: A Call for Compassion and Change

Why change is needed

The benefits system should provide a safety net—offering dignity, support, and a pathway to opportunity. Instead, it has become a barrier, causing harm and leaving too many people living in poverty, stress, and fear. Rigid conditionality, endless paperwork, and impersonal assessments dehumanize claimants, making it harder for people to access the help they need to live and thrive. A narrow vision of being ‘capable for work’ fails to acknowledge the complexity of people’s lives. Adding to all this, the media continues push harmful stereotypes about those in receipt of social security. In 2024, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights - United Nations Convention on the Rights of Disabled People (UNCRDP) – produced a report on the UK which found no progress and some regression on grave and systemic human rights abuses in the UK.

Assessment as it stands is cruel

People are often subjected to harsh assessments, where their physical and mental health challenges are questioned, dismissed, or misunderstood.

Sanctions and delays in payments are pushing families further into hardship and exacerbating social inequality. The stigma attached to claiming benefits damages mental health and discourages individuals from seeking the support they are entitled to. Marginalised groups are particularly at risk.

In 2023, Dolly made a series of DWP 'Fit for Work' Dolls. The doll boxes are in the colour of the Jobcentre logo, green and yellow, a branding not of corporate identity but a branding holding disabled pain. Each box has a different kind of doll to show who the DWP have declared 'fit for work', including people in comas, people with multiple health conditions, terminally ill people and people driven to suicide by the DWP. On the back of each box is a list of names of actual humans who have died in those circumstances. Dolly writes, “I wonder why we don't give children toys to show what their government is like”.

The system is unproductive

Rather than helping individuals gain stability, the focus on strict eligibility criteria and punitive measures discourages genuine engagement. Increasing conditionality can often result in negative impacts on the mental health of groups who are targeted.

Millions are stuck in a loop of reapplying and appealing, with no meaningful support to move towards defining and achieving their own goals.

The complexity of the system wastes time and resources, both for the individuals navigating it and those administering it. These resources could and should be put towards assisting people in real need, rather than running a system that hurts them. Centre researchers have suggested that a move towards a more empowering focus on capacity, capabilities and aspiration would produce better outcomes for all.

Our vision for a better system

We believe that reforming social security isn’t just about fixing its flaws, it’s about creating a system built on justice, respect, and empowerment. We need a welfare system that treats people with compassion and focuses on providing the support they need to lead healthy, fulfilling lives.

Our key priorities for reform

• Dignity and Respect: We need a system that values the lived experiences of those in need, offering a non-judgmental and respectful process for accessing support.

• Better Assessments: Assessments should be co-produced with the person and power rebalanced, ensuring no one is unfairly denied support.

• Adequate Support: Benefits should reflect the real cost of living and provide individuals and families with enough to thrive, not just survive.

• Long-term Solutions: The focus must shift from punitive measures to providing an income when people cannot work, covering extra costs of disability, then opportunities for education, retraining, and meaningful employment that people can access without fear of losing their safety net. Together with a recognition that work is not right for everyone and they also should receive support to live independent fulfilling lives.

• Truth and Reconciliation: The great injustices and harm done to millions cannot be hidden anymore, we need a truth and reconciliation process as we abolish the DWP and move to a new system of social security that works with Health and Social Care to support people, instead of killing them.

Our message to policymakers

We urge policymakers to listen to the voices of those with lived experience. There have been too many deaths due to the unsafe practices of the DWP and its contractors over the last 15 years. Transforming the benefits system is not just a political issue—it’s a moral imperative. A system built on compassion will not only uplift individuals but also benefit society as a whole.

The LEAB is committed to working alongside policymakers to design a system that truly supports those in need, respects their dignity, and offers real opportunities for a better future.

Four things you can do

1. Contact your MP (you can find your MP here https://members.parliament.uk/FindYourMP). Ask them to read their copy of The Department: How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence by John Pring that every MP was sent. Ask them to meet with you to discuss it.

2. Visit and share the website Deaths By Welfare.

3. Support Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) – and any local User/Survivor led group in your area. Through these groups you can get involved in activism.

4. Take part in our ‘DWP “Fit Dolls’ poster and sticker campaign.
   You can download, print and share posters and stickers created by Dolly Sen and the Centre’s Lived Experience Advisory Board here: A3 Poster, A4 Poster, A5 poster, Sticker 1, Sticker 2, Sticker 3.

 
If you are worried about your own situation, the following organisations may be able to help:

Benefits and Work

Child Poverty Action Group

Big Book of Benefits

Disability Rights UK Handbook

PIP Turn 2 Us

Turn 2 Us

The following organisations may also be able to offer some assistance:

The British Red Cross

Runs a support line - in more than 200 languages - that supports people who are struggling with the cost of living. Can also support with many other emotional and practical issues.

Citizens Advice Service

Information and advice on a wide range of issues including benefits, employment, housing and debt. The CAS should be able to tell you if there is a foodbank in your area.

Money Helper

Hub for three financial guidance providers: The Money Advice Service, The Pensions Advisory Service and Pension Wise.

The National Debtline

Provides free advice on all debt-related issues.

StepChange Debt Charity

Free, comprehensive debt advice.

The Trussell Trust

Runs foodbanks in many areas. Visit their website to see whether there is a Trussell Trust foodbank in your area.

Turn2us

Provides practical support to help people access benefits, grants and support services

If you or a loved one are at risk of suicide, the following organisations may be able to support:

Campaign Against Living Miserably

CALM are a suicide prevention charity. They have an anonymous and confidential helpline, livechat and WhatsApp open from 5pm to midnight every day.

Shout

Provides a confidential text messaging service by texting Shout to 85258.

Papyrus

Papyrus exists to prevent youth suicide. They provide confidential suicide prevention advice via text, email, and phone. You can contact their 24-7 hopeline via 0800 068 4141.