Universal Credit: Managed Migration from April 2024

Thursday 25th January 2024 Written Statements

[The Minister for Employment (Jo Churchill)]

The Government are working to deliver a brighter future for Britain, with long-term economic security and opportunity, where hard work is always rewarded; where ambition and aspiration are celebrated; where people get the skills they need to succeed in life; where families are supported; where those who have worked hard all their lives have the retirement they deserve.

Universal credit plays a vital role in providing financial support to households. For more than 10 years, universal credit has successfully delivered a tailored service to millions of people, adjusting each month to an individuals’ needs and helping people progress in work.

The “move to universal credit” activity will bring those who remain on the older, legacy benefits on to universal credit, completing the implementation of this major welfare reform.

Throughout 2023-24 our activity has focused on notifying households that receive tax credits only. This activity is progressing well, and we remain on track to notify over 500,000 tax credit-only households of the need to claim universal credit by the end of March 2024. Furthermore, by February 2024, a month earlier than originally anticipated, “move to universal credit” will be under way across all jobcentre districts within Great Britain. The Department continues to listen to all feedback to continuously improve the service, but to date there have been very few complaints, and any issues have been swiftly resolved.

Looking ahead to 2024-25, we will be migrating the remaining groups of households receiving legacy benefits to universal credit, excluding employment and support allowance only and employment and support allowance with housing benefit.

Our plans for 2024-25 are to undertake the issuing of migration notices to in-scope working age benefit households sequentially, starting with income support claimants and those claiming tax credits with housing benefit from April, housing benefit-only claimants from June, claimants of employment and support allowance with child tax credits from July, and jobseekers allowance claimants in September. Households may be in receipt of a combination of benefits, for example an income support recipient could also be claiming housing benefit and/or child tax credits.

From August, we will contact those claiming tax credits who are over state pension age, with households being asked to apply for either universal credit or pension credit, depending on their circumstances.

The Government recognise that some individuals may need additional support to move to universal credit. The Department is committed to providing such support through a range of channels for anyone who needs it. We will continue to review and revise this approach to ensure the success of “move to universal credit” for our customers.

[HCWS213]