The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced that nearly four million households will see an annual income boost estimated to be worth £725 after a Bill to overhaul the welfare system received Royal Assent last month. The Universal Credit Act 2025 is now an Act of Parliament.

Reforms set out in the Universal Credit Bill aim to rebalance the core payment and health top-up in Universal Credit. The Bill will see the Universal Credit standard allowance permanently rise above inflation, amounting to £725 by 2029/30 in cash terms for a single person aged 25 or over, reports the Daily Record .

According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), this is the highest permanent real terms increase to the main rate of out-of-work support since 1980.

Measures in the Universal Cr

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