Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have been asked voluntarily to move from receiving existing benefits to universal credit in advance of their planned migration in (a) Newcastle upon Tyne, (b) the North East and (c) England in the last 12 months.

The Department does not ask anyone to move voluntarily to universal credit and there are no targets for people to do so. Jobcentre staff engage ahead of and once Universal Credit Full Service has gone live to explain the changes and help our customers prepare, in case they should have a change in their circumstances requiring them to claim Universal Credit.