Welfare Reform Act 2009
| Act of Parliament | |
| Long title | An Act to amend the law relating to social security; to make provision enabling disabled people to be given greater control over the way in which certain public services are provided for them; to amend the law relating to child support; to make provision about the registration of births; and for connected purposes. |
|---|---|
| Citation | 2009 c. 24 |
| Introduced by | James Purnell, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions |
| Territorial extent | England & Wales and Scotland (mainly) |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 12 November 2009 |
| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Welfare Reform Act 2009 (c. 24) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It reforms the law relating to social security benefits.
The act established Employment and Support Allowance, which replaces existing Incapacity Benefit.[2]
The act introduced increased benefit conditionality, expanded requirements to undertake work-related activity and introduced sanctions for non-compliance with various obligations.[3]
The act gave disabled people a "right to control" state support spent on them.[4]
See also
References
- Nicholas Wikeley. "Welfare Reform Act 2009". Current Law Statutes Annotated 2009. Sweet & Maxwell. Thomson Reuters. 2010. Volume 2. Chapter 24. pp 24-1 to 24-126.
- "Welfare Reform Act 2009". Halsbury's Statutes of England and Wales. Fourth Edition. LexisNexis. Current Statutes Service.
- Clements and Thompson. "Welfare Reform Act 2009 and the Right to Control Pilot Schemes". Community Care And The Law. Fifth Edition. Legal Action Group. 2011. p 161.
- ^ This short title is given by section 62 of the act.
- ^ "Welfare Reform Bill". BBC News. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 20 January 2026.
- ^ Barker, Nicola; Lamble, Sarah (September 2009). "From social security to individual responsibility: sanctions, conditionality and Punitiveness in the Welfare Reform Bill 2009 (Part One): Current Developments". Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law. 31 (3): 321–332. doi:10.1080/09649060903354639. ISSN 0964-9069.
- ^ Samuel, Mithran (11 June 2009). "Personalisation: DWP bids to give disabled 'right to control'". Community Care. Retrieved 20 January 2026.