(The Secretary of State for Work
and Pensions): Universal Credit is a vital reform.
It overhauls a legacy system which trapped people out of work.
The next stage, managed migration will move claimants of legacy
benefits on to Universal Credit without a change of
circumstances. As we have previously committed, the Department
will pilot this approach, following the passing of an affirmative
Statutory Instrument, from July 2019; starting with small numbers
with no more than 10,000 claimants. This is expected to take
around 12 months. We will report on our findings to Parliament
and bring forward legislation for the wider roll out of managed
migration. We will, as planned, complete full roll out of
Universal Credit by the end of 2023.
I am updating Parliament to announce that we have selected
Harrogate in North Yorkshire to be our initial site for the
managed migration pilot.
Harrogate has a mix of benefit claimants with a varying range of
needs, in both rural and urban areas. Harrogate has also had
Universal Credit since 2016 which is earlier than many other
places. In that respect it does very much reflect the situation
we will face across the country as we begin the broader process
of moving people from the old system to the new Universal Credit
system. This means the lessons we learn here will be directly
applicable to places that start moving claimants from the old
system to the new system in 2020 and beyond who will have started
with UC in 2017 and 2018.
We will take a careful approach to delivering managed migration.
Claimants will be informed of their move in advance, receive full
information and support from the department to move, including
through home visits where appropriate.
We do not intend to stop anyone’s benefit during the pilot. In
the pilot phase, our intention is to learn how to effectively
assist people onto Universal Credit and to develop processes to
deliver that help. This is particularly important for vulnerable
and hard-to-reach claimants, who the department will help to move
across to the new system.
Managed migration will open up the world of work for thousands
and deliver financial support for those whose circumstances have
not changed. The process will eventually provide over £3 billion
total transitional protection for 1.1 million families.
Transitional protection will be available and we will help people
who need it access discretionary payments which could be used,
for example, to pay the equivalent of the two-week run on.
Eligible claimants who received the Severe Disability Premium
under the legacy system will receive transitional payments as a
result of the regulations bringing them into effect.
The department is working with stakeholders to develop our
approach to managed migration, with support for the most
vulnerable in at the forefront of our minds. We will continue to
do this as we deliver.
