Update UC health element uprating for existing claimants (November 2025 Autumn Budget) #1389
Description
Summary
The November 2025 Autumn Budget introduces changes to Universal Credit health element (UCHE) uprating to protect real-terms value for existing claimants.
Policy Details
From the OBR Economic and Fiscal Outlook November 2025:
- Effective date: From July 2025 announcement
- Change: For existing claimants, the combined value of UC standard allowance (UCSA) and UCHE rises in line with CPI inflation
- Context: At Spring Statement 2025, the UCHE was frozen in cash terms for claimants prior to April 2026. Despite above-inflation UCSA uprating, the overall award would have risen by less than inflation.
- New policy: Below-inflation uprating to the UCHE to protect the combined value of UCSA and UCHE in real terms
- Fiscal cost: £520 million by 2029-30
Technical Details
The below-inflation UCHE uprating is based on the UCSA rate for single people aged 25 and over. A separate small measure also applies a further increase to the single, under 25 UCSA to ensure real-terms protection for this group.
Implementation Required
Review and update UC health element parameters:
gov.dwp.universal_credit.rebalancing.new_claimant_health_element- May need to add separate uprating logic for existing vs new claimants
- Consider interaction with UCSA uprating
Source
OBR Economic and Fiscal Outlook November 2025, Chapter 3 (Policy measures), paragraph 3.18, Box 3.2
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