The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 35) (Abolition of Benefits) Order 2025
This Order, made under the Welfare Reform Act 2012, sets out the final appointed dates for bringing into force provisions that abolish several legacy benefits, including Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, and the income-related elements of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), as claimants transition to Universal Credit (UC).
Key dates include December 1, 2025, for converting certain 'old style ESA' awards, and April 1, 2026, for the general abolition of Income Support and income-based JSA for remaining cases.
The Order also addresses the cessation of Housing Benefit for working-age claimants moving out of temporary or specified accommodation after November 14, 2025, and allows temporary administrative delay in preparing claimant commitments for converted ESA cases.
Arguments For
The Order finalises the replacement of legacy welfare benefits (Income Support, income-based JSA, and elements of ESA) with Universal Credit (UC), leading to a more streamlined social security system.
Setting specific future dates for abolition provides certainty for claimants and administrators regarding the completion of benefit migration.
Delaying the requirement for a claimant commitment for converted old style ESA awards (Article 3) allows the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) time to manage the administrative transition efficiently.
Specific provisions for Housing Benefit cessation when working-age claimants move out of temporary/specified accommodation ensures that these finite housing support arrangements align with the UC rollout timeline.
Arguments Against
Setting firm abolition dates for longstanding benefits like Income Support and income-based JSA (April 2026) could create uncertainty or financial distress for vulnerable individuals not yet successfully migrated to UC by that time, potentially penalising those who have not received migration notices or faced transition barriers.
The provision allowing the Secretary of State to delay preparing a claimant commitment for converted ESA claimants (Article 3) introduces administrative discretion that could slow down the full entitlement process for those claimants.
Abolishing contributory old style ESA income-related allowances from December 2025 for certain cases might prematurely remove entitlement components before the claimant is fully assessed and settled onto UC, potentially affecting their initial UC award calculations.
The treatment of Housing Benefit cessation upon leaving specific accommodation types (Article 6) must be carefully managed to ensure claimants do not lose essential housing support before establishing Universal Credit entitlement.
The Secretary of State makes this Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 150(3) and (4)(a) and (c) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012.
The Secretary of State issued this legal instruction using powers granted under sections 150(3) and 150(4)(a) and (c) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 to set dates for commencement.
1. Citation and Interpretation
(1) This Order may be cited as the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 35) (Abolition of Benefits) Order 2025.
(2) In this Order—
- “the 2007 Act” means the Welfare Reform Act 2007;
- “the Act” means the Welfare Reform Act 2012;
- “the amending provisions” means the provisions referred to in article 4(1)(a) to (c) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Commencement No. 8 and Savings and Transitional Provisions (Amendment)) Order 2013;
- “contributory allowance” and “income-related allowance” in relation to an award of old style ESA have the meaning given by section 1(7) of the 2007 Act;
- “housing benefit” means housing benefit under section 130 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;
- “income support” means income support under section 124 of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992;
- “income-based jobseeker’s allowance” has the same meaning as in the Jobseekers Act 1995;
- “income-related employment and support allowance” means an income-related allowance under Part 1 of the 2007 Act;
- “old style ESA” means an employment and support allowance under Part 1 of the 2007 Act as it has effect apart from the amendments made by Schedule 3, and Part 1 of Schedule 14, to the Act that remove references to an income-related allowance and references to an award of old style ESA shall be construed accordingly;
- “old style JSA” means a jobseeker’s allowance under the Jobseekers Act 1995 as it has effect apart from the amendments made by Part 1 of Schedule 14 to the Act that remove references to an income-based jobseeker’s allowance and references to an award of old style JSA shall be construed accordingly;
- “the Transitional Regulations” means the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2014;
- “two week run-on period” means the period referred to in regulation 8(2A) or 46(1)(a) of the Transitional Regulations or regulation 5(1) of the Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019.
This section establishes the formal title of the Order and provides definitions for key terms used throughout the subsequent articles.
These definitions clarify which specific pieces of legislation (like the 2007 Act and the 2012 Act) are referenced, and what 'old style' benefits (ESA and JSA) refer to—specifically those versions before amendments phasing them out and moving recipients to Universal Credit.
The definitions also detail what constitutes 'contributory allowance' and 'income-related allowance' within the context of old style ESA, and specifies the meaning of 'two week run-on period' used in other related regulations for transitional periods.
2. Conversion of contributory old style ESA
(1) The day appointed for the coming into force of the amending provisions in the case of an award of old style ESA in respect of which the claimant—
(a) is entitled to the contributory allowance but not the income-related allowance, or
(b) is entitled to both the contributory allowance and the income-related allowance and section 6(4) of the 2007 Act (allowance treated as attributable to entitlement to the contributory allowance where the amount payable does not exceed the personal rate) applies,
is as follows.
(2) In the case of an award where either of the conditions in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) applies on 1st December 2025, the day appointed is 1st December 2025.
(3) In any other case, the day appointed is the first day on which either of those conditions applies.
This article sets the commencement date for the 'amending provisions' for specific pre-Universal Credit Employment and Support Allowance (old style ESA) cases.
This conversion primarily impacts claimants receiving entitlements based solely on the contributory allowance, or where the contributory element is technically higher than the income-related element.
For awards meeting these conditions on December 1, 2025, that date is appointed as the commencement date.
If the conditions are met later, the appointed day is the first day they are met.
3. Claimant commitment on conversion of contributory old style ESA
(1) Where the amending provisions come into force in relation to an award of old style ESA in accordance with article 2 (conversion of contributory old style ESA) the Secretary of State may, for so long as the Secretary of State considers necessary to protect the efficient administration of employment and support allowance, delay the preparation of a claimant commitment in accordance with section 11A of the 2007 Act.
(2) Section 1(3)(aa) of the 2007 Act (acceptance of claimant commitment to be a condition of entitlement to employment and support allowance) is not to apply during any period for which the preparation of a claimant commitment is delayed under paragraph (1).
When an old style ESA award is converted under Article 2, the Secretary of State has the authority to postpone requiring the claimant to agree to a 'claimant commitment'.
This postponement is intended to safeguard the efficient administration of the allowance during the changeover.
During this period of delay, the claimant commitment requirement—which acceptance is usually a condition for receiving employment and support allowance—will not apply to the claimant.
4. Abolition of income-based jobseeker’s allowance
The day appointed for the coming into force of the amending provisions in the case of an award of old style JSA in respect of which those provisions—
(a) have not yet come into force, and
(b) are not due to come into force, or to be treated as coming into force, at the end of a two week run-on period,
is 1st April 2026.
This article appoints April 1, 2026, as the final commencement date for the provisions abolishing income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (old style JSA) for any remaining cases.
This date applies only if the amending provisions, which remove the income-based element, have not already started for that claimant.
Crucially, this abolition date will not apply if the claimant is in a 'two week run-on period' related to claiming Universal Credit.
5. Abolition of income support
The day appointed for the coming into force of section 33(1)(c) of the Act (abolition of income support) in respect of an award of income support that—
(a) has not yet been terminated by virtue of regulation 7(2), 8(2A) or 46(1)(a) of the Transitional Regulations, and
(b) is not due to terminate at the end of a two week run-on period,
is 1st April 2026.
Section 33(1)(c) of the Act, which concerns the abolition of Income Support, comes into force for remaining awards on April 1, 2026.
This date applies only to Income Support cases that have not already ended due to rules within the Transitional Regulations.
This final date also excludes any awards currently in a statutory 'two week run-on period' related to a transition to Universal Credit.
6. Abolition of housing benefit for working age claimants who cease to occupy temporary accommodation or specified accommodation
(1) The day appointed for the coming into force of section 33(1)(d) of the Act (abolition of housing benefit) in relation to an award of housing benefit where the claimant—
(a) is not entitled to universal credit, income support, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance or an income-related employment and support allowance,
(b) does not fall within regulation 6A(3) to (5) of the Transitional Regulations (exemption from restrictions on claims for housing benefit for persons over the qualifying age for state pension credit etc.), and
(c) is entitled to that award in respect of temporary accommodation or specified accommodation,
is any day falling on or after 14th November 2025 that is the day after the last day on which the claimant is entitled to housing benefit in respect of accommodation of that description.
(2) In this article “specified accommodation” and “temporary accommodation” have the same meaning as in the Transitional Regulations.
This article targets the abolition of Housing Benefit (HB) for claimants of working age who are making a move.
The specified conditions exclude those already on UC or Income Support, and those over the State Pension credit age threshold who remain exempt under transitional rules.
If a claimant entitled to HB for temporary or specified accommodation moves out of that accommodation after November 14, 2025, and they are not entitled to UC or other main working-age benefits, the provision abolishing their HB takes effect the day after their entitlement for that accommodation ends.