Response to the Autumn Budget

29 October 2026

Yesterday, Wednesday 28 October, the Chancellor John Healey delivered the Autumn Budget. Described as a Budget to give ‘breathing space from rising costs’, we look at what this means for our community.

We know that financial security is a major concern for our community, so we welcome the Chancellor’s focus on providing breathing space for people struggling with energy bills and the everyday cost of living. However, many people living with muscle wasting conditions need more support than has been announced, and there are some questions that remain unanswered

Some welcome measures, but clarification needed

On the surface, some of the announcements are positive, but it’s unclear what the full impact will be.

For example, the abolition of standing charges on gas bills, and eventually abolishing them for electricity too. This is something that many people outside of our community have been campaigning for, arguing that having a fixed fee unfairly penalises households on lower incomes who are trying to cut their usage to reduce costs. But, as some assistive technology like powerchairs and ventilators require higher power usage, moving onto a per-unit rate could, in theory, end up costing some in our community more.

The Government has acknowledged that the change will cost some households more and has said it will make sure the rollout is “fair” by using “targeted mitigations”. But it’s unclear what this means, and we haven’t yet had clarification that mitigations will apply for disabled people. It’s essential that they do.

And if our community can’t benefit from the proposed reduced costs in the same way that average households will, then targeted support is needed and we will be monitoring this closely.

The £100 cash payment to help with rising energy bills also isn’t available to all. About 20 million households in England are set to benefit from this next year, but only if they are in Council Tax bands A-D.

Again, this sounds positive and will capture a lot of households. But some people living with muscle wasting conditions live in adapted housing, supported accommodation, or simply in a larger property. Their council tax band – based on what the value of that property was over thirty years ago – may bear no relation to their current financial position.

The Chancellor also committed £100 million to councils to help support households outside of bands A-D. But we don’t know the detail of how this will be used and who will be able to access that support.

Positive news for Carers’ Allowance

We’ve been calling on the UK government to change the Carers’ Allowance ‘cliff-edge’, so it is great news that they have announced this will be abolished. Currently, if a carer earns even 1p over the weekly earnings limit, their entire Carers’ Allowance is lost. The new system from 2030/31 will introduce tapered support, meaning fewer carers will lose out on much-needed financial support just because they’ve earned over a certain amount.

What’s coming next?

The Chancellor confirmed that reforms to health and disability benefits are on the way after the final report of the Timms Review into PIP and the Milburn Report on young people and work are published in November.

Until we get the details of the Government’s plans, it’s difficult to say whether the ‘breathing space’ promised in this Budget will apply to many in our community who rely on benefits like PIP and Universal Credit.

We know that financial security is a major concern for those in our community who do rely on those benefits, and it’s essential that any changes don’t mean cuts to disabled people’s income. We will be monitoring this situation closely over the coming weeks.