The latest welfare news, headlines and analysis from The NE Times.
From June, the Home Office no longer has a binding duty to support destitute asylum seekers, replacing it with a discretionary power and the ability to suspend payments for unauthorised work.
The Lords debate on welfare and a generation locked out of work framed the choice as compassion versus cost. The real failure is a system that pays to keep people idle rather than helping them back to work.
Nigel Farage's party has reversed course on the two-child benefit limit, sharpening the contest with Labour over welfare policy.
Ministers stripped contentious changes to Personal Independence Payment from welfare legislation after pressure from MPs, carers and disabled people.
Ministers say removing the cap, alongside an expansion of free school meals, will deliver the largest fall in child poverty in a single parliament for decades.
From April 2026 a new crisis and resilience fund replaces the long-running Household Support Fund, offering essentials and cash payments of up to £300 to struggling households.