Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his latest estimate is of the number of people who will be claiming legacy benefits or tax credits on 1 January 2021.

The numbers of claimants in receipt of Universal Credit at any given point will vary according to a number of factors, such as the prevailing economic conditions and the behavioural change of claimants.

The last new claims to legacy benefits and tax credits will be accepted during 2017. Following this, the number of people on the remaining legacy claims and tax credit claims will progressively decline, and the Department will migrate the remaining claims to Universal Credit. Should there be no change in the labour market outlook or the pace at which claims are migrated, the current planning assumption is that the bulk of this exercise will be complete by 2019.