Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Dr Thérèse
Coffey): In 2012, Parliament voted to end
legacy benefits and replace them with a single modern benefit
system, Universal Credit (UC). The UC system stood up to the
challenges of the pandemic and ensured support was provided for a
significant number of new claimants with varying needs across the
country. As the rest of government and society returns to
business as usual, it is appropriate to resume the process to
complete the move to UC by 2024.
There are around 2.6 million households receiving legacy benefits
and tax credits who need to move across to UC. The natural
migration process, where claimants experience a change in
circumstances and consequently move to UC, has largely continued
throughout the last two years. The voluntary migration process
has also been available throughout. We are taking steps to
increase people’s awareness of the fact that they could be better
off financially if they were receiving Universal Credit,
including through the publication of our document, Completing
the Move to Universal Credit, today on GOV.UK. I will place
copies in the libraries of both Houses.
In that document, we set out our analysis which estimates that
1.4 million (55%) of those on legacy benefits or tax credits
would receive a higher entitlement on UC than on legacy benefits
and would benefit from moving voluntarily, rather than waiting
for a managed migration. This is particularly the case for tax
credit claimants, with our analysis estimating around two-thirds
of them would benefit. That is why we have included information
on UC in this year’s renewal forms for current tax credit
recipients. It is important for current recipients to satisfy
themselves that they would be better off on UC using independent
benefit calculators before moving voluntarily, as once the claim
is made, recipients cannot revert to tax credits or legacy
benefits, nor receive any transitional protection payments. More
information is included in the document.
For those claimants who do not choose to move and have not
migrated naturally, we will manage their migration to UC.
Parliament committed to providing transitional financial
protection to those who are moved onto UC through the managed
migration process. Whilst many households will be better off
financially on UC, for those with a lower calculated award in UC
than in their legacy benefits, transitional protection will be
provided for eligible households. This means they will see no
difference in their entitlement at the point they are moved to
UC, provided there is no change in their circumstances during the
migration process.
Before the pandemic, the department had started testing processes
for managed migration in a pilot based in Harrogate. In 2020, the
pilot was stopped to handle the significant increase in new
claims for UC resulting from the pandemic. During this pilot
there was proactive engagement with 80 people, 38 of these were
moved to UC. 35 claimants were better off and only three people
required transitional protection. The remainder of moves were not
completed before the pilot was stopped. This pilot only involved
claimants that the department had an existing relationship with.
No claimants on Working Tax Credits were approached directly to
commence a Move to UC.
The pilot provided valuable insights. First, while claimants will
likely look for support from organisations they already know,
such as a local authority, we are no longer assuming that all
engagement needs to be managed by that organisation. Second,
claimants can and will move autonomously, but some may need more
support, particularly on digital access. The pandemic reinforced
the importance of claimants being able to manage their own claims
online and the strength of this system. Third, claimants can
successfully choose a date for their claim, factoring in other
income and expenditure points during the month. Finally, the
pilot allowed the department to understand the processes and
tools required to complete a managed move, such as those needed
to calculate transitional protection.
As I have said to the House previously, we are not resuming the
Harrogate pilot. We have learned from that experience and our
wider experience over the last two years. As we complete the Move
to UC, I am absolutely committed to making this a responsible and
safe transition. Next month, we will be starting a multi-site
approach across the country with a small number of claimants,
approximately five hundred initially, being brought into the
mandatory migration process. We will continue to develop our
processes and systems to scale the migration process and complete
by 2024.
We are resuming under existing regulations, though I intend to
bring forward to Parliament amendments to the UC Transitional
Provisions Regulations, following their consideration by the
Social Security Advisory Committee.
Universal Credit is a dynamic welfare system fit for the
21st century. As part of our levelling up agenda to
support the British public, we will continue to help people into
work and progress in work, taking advantage of the recent
reduction in the taper rate and boost to work allowances.
