Universal Credit claimants must seek 18 hours work

Claimants who earn less than the threshold will be given more “intensive” Jobcentre support, the DWP said, including more frequent meetings with a work coach.

If someone does not engage with the process, or take work that is available, they could lose some of their benefits.

The prime minister said the changes to the minimum hours requirement would help people on universal credit “progress towards financial independence, which is better for them and for economic growth”.

However, Michael Clarke, from Turn2Us, a charity which supports people in financial difficulty, expressed “serious concern” over the change.

“It’s vital that the support system truly supports, rather than penalises those it’s meant to help,” he said.

“These changes severely challenge those managing jobs with irregular or fluctuating incomes and carefully balanced responsibilities like childcare.

He said the system failed to allow for “the reality of those on the financial edge”.

“For single mothers and others on razor-thin margins, these adjustments risk tipping them into crisis, exacerbating financial instability and mental stress as they struggle to meet these new demands,” he said.

Last month Mr Sunak outlined his plans to reform the welfare system further, if the Conservatives win the next election.

He said welfare should not be “a lifestyle choice”. He plans to change the rules so that welfare recipients who do not take work, or try to meet the conditions set out, for a year would lose all of their benefits.

Mr Sunak also wants to tackle what he called the “sick note culture”, by changing the process for being certified as too ill to work. He plans to reform the payments system for people unable to work due to long-term physical or mental illness or disability.

Disability charities described the plans as “a full-on assault on disabled people”.