The British government will lay regulations in Parliament on Tuesday to stop killers and serious sex offenders detained in psychiatric hospitals from receiving universal credit while the NHS already pays for their care, a change ministers say will save tens of millions of pounds a year and answer long-running campaigns by victims’ families.
What the rules would do
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the move ends “double provision” that allowed violent criminals to collect up to about £800 a month in benefits for years while living in secure hospital beds funded by taxpayers. The regulations target people subject to hospital orders under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983 and the equivalent Section 57A route in Scotland.
Offences covered include manslaughter, attempted murder, wounding with intent, rape, assault by penetration and rape of a child under 13. Murder is excluded because hospital orders are not available sentences for that crime. Officials estimate roughly 2,500 existing patients and about 200 new cases each year would lose benefit eligibility if Parliament approves the statutory instrument, with fuller costings due in the 28 October Budget.
Why families pushed for change
The announcement follows lobbying by relatives of victims of high-profile attacks, including the parents of students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley Kumar, who were killed in Nottingham in June 2023. Their attacker, Valdo Calocane, was convicted of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility and detained in a high-security hospital, a case that drew public attention to benefit payments continuing during psychiatric detention.
Emma Webber, Barnaby’s mother, called the prior payments a “disgrace” and said closing the loophole delivered “basic accountability.” Grace’s father, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, argued offenders already cost the state enormous sums for treatment and should not also draw universal credit while confined. Linda Westcarr, whose daughter Kennedi was killed in Hackney in 2024, told the BBC that fairness for victims’ families required recognizing the moral impact of paying benefits to detained offenders.
Political reaction
McFadden framed the package as part of a broader effort to put “fairness back at the heart of the welfare system,” saying violent criminals had too long had living costs covered twice while victims bore the human cost. Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately welcomed closing the loophole but accused Labour of moving slowly and said Conservatives would make universal credit more conditional and time-limited.
Ministers plan for the rules to take effect early next year if both Houses pass the instrument without delay. Benefit advisers in secure hospitals have been told to prepare caseload reviews, though officials stress that patients will retain NHS-funded treatment and accommodation regardless of the universal credit change.
What comes next
Parliament’s Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments will scrutinize the text once it is tabled, while devolved administrations in Scotland will align enforcement with the Section 57A pathway. Campaigners say they will watch implementation to ensure backdated recoveries are handled transparently, while civil liberties groups may question whether benefit removal affects patients’ ability to prepare for eventual discharge.
For now, the government’s message is straightforward: hospital detention ends freedom, and under the proposed rules it would also end monthly universal credit for the most serious offenders still drawing both state supports.