Progress in implementing Universal Credit

Public Accounts Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 10 Jan 2024 Closed: 28 May 2024 Parliament page
There are currently around six million people receiving Universal Credit (UC) benefit payments, launched in 2010 to replace six-means-tested benefits for working-age households. At the end of 2022, some 2.5m households remained on legacy benefits, with the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) starting to scale up moving people onto … Read more
5 Recommendations
31 Conclusions
1 Report
1 Oral session
3 Letters
1 Event
Activity timeline 7 events
11 Jul
2025
Report published
8 May
2024
Correspondence
26 Apr
2024
Report published
26 Apr
2024
Correspondence
15 Apr
2024
Correspondence
11 Mar
2024
Oral evidence
11 Mar
2024
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
Oral evidence sessions 1 session
11 Mar 2024
View on parliament.uk
Progress in implementing Universal Credit
Helga Swidenbank · Department for Work and Pensions Neil Couling CB CBE · DWP Services and Fraud Peter Schofield CB · Department for Work and Pensions
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in implementing Universal Credit HC 458 26 Apr 2024 36 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
36 results
2 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Regularly track and publish Universal Credit claimant outcomes including employment, earnings, and hours.
The Department’s evaluations show that Universal Credit is having a positive impact on the labour market, but these have assessed only the short-term impact on claimants. The Department’s studies have evaluated the short-term impact for individuals who made a claim … Read more
Government Response
The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating that tracking specific employment outcomes and duration for Universal Credit claimants was not an objective and would not provide the necessary insight into the program's impact.
HM Treasury
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3 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Publish Universal Credit non-claim rates and survey results of non-transferring legacy benefit claimants.
Many vulnerable people risk falling into financial hardship if the proportion of legacy benefit claimants not switching to Universal Credit remains at its current level. Around one in five households on Tax Credits who received a migration notice have not … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and will publish Universal Credit non-claim rates by legacy benefit type, extending to wider types as migration progresses, and will monitor rates closely with remedial actions if needed. It also commits to publishing the results of the Tax Credit non-claim survey by year-end.
HM Treasury
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4 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Set out how to monitor adequacy and effectiveness of in-house Universal Credit migration support.
The Department’s in-house support for claimants moving to Universal Credit has so far been limited, particularly face-to-face provision, and will need to improve as more vulnerable claimants move from its legacy benefits. The Department’s practical support for Tax Credit claimants … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and will monitor the adequacy and effectiveness of its in-house support for Universal Credit claimants by tracking claimant journeys, phone call volumes, face-to-face referrals, and introducing a Complex Case Coach role for oversight.
HM Treasury
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5 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Explain plans to review Help to Claim service and address unmet demand from vulnerable claimants.
The Department is reducing its grant funding for the external Help to Claim service at the same time as more claimants will need advice and support to move from legacy benefits to Universal Credit. The ‘Help to Claim’ service, provided … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and will comprehensively monitor the Help to Claim service through weekly, monthly, and quarterly meetings, board reviews, and mid- and end-of-year reports to ensure it meets demand, especially for vulnerable claimants.
HM Treasury
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6 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Explain better how transitional protection is calculated in guidance and migration notices.
The Department has not explained clearly how transitional protection works so benefit claimants, and the organisations that advise them, do not fully understand how amounts are calculated. The Department provides ‘transitional protection’ designed to ensure people are not worse off … Read more
Government Response
The government disagrees, stating that migration notices are designed to focus on necessary actions, and that claimants do not want them to convey detailed explanations of transitional protection calculations. It notes a technical guide exists for advisors and is considering other general information.
HM Treasury
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7 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Explain how lessons from current migration programme will prepare for ESA claimant move.
With the move of Employment and Support Allowance claimants to Universal Credit now deferred to 2028, it will be vital for the Department to capture and act upon the learning from its current programme about how to migrate vulnerable claimants … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the need to be ready for the migration of ESA claimants by 2024-25, building on existing learnings by capturing the effectiveness of enhanced support journeys through monitoring, with initial findings expected in 2024.
HM Treasury
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1 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Committee took evidence on Department for Work and Pensions' Universal Credit implementation progress
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Work & Pensions (the Department) on progress in implementing Universal Credit (UC).1
Government Response
The government states it has existing evaluation requirements from the Green and Magenta Books, has set up an Evaluation Task Force, published updated guidance on Treasury Approvals in April 2024, and will update the Magenta Book in 2025 to clarify evaluation guidance.
HM Treasury
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8 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Universal Credit demonstrates positive short-term labour market impact for claimants, DWP evaluations confirm
The Department has some evidence to indicate that UC is having a positive impact on the labour market based on its evaluations of the short-term impact. Its first four evaluations covered single claimants without children – the most recent of … Read more
Government Response
The government disagrees with the implied recommendation to track job types and duration for UC claimants, stating it was not a program objective and would not provide the desired insights for evaluating Universal Credit's impact.
HM Treasury
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9 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
DWP's labour market impact estimates rely on selected positive findings and assumptions
We asked how the Department’s evaluations of whether UC is more likely to get people into work compared with legacy benefits enabled it to estimate how much people contributed to the economy.15 The Department said it was now difficult to … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects the implicit recommendation regarding its evaluation methodology and economic contribution estimates, stating that tracking specific claimant types was not an objective and would not provide valuable insights for the business case. It affirms its commitment to understanding labour market effects through existing monitoring and evaluation programmes.
HM Treasury
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10 Conclusion Deferred
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
DWP asserts UC outperforms Jobseeker’s Allowance despite inability to measure direct economic benefits
The Department told us that it could not measure the economic benefits of extra people being in work as it could not create two versions of the economy – one with UC and one without. However, it said that its … Read more
Government Response
The government acknowledges the difficulty of evaluation, reaffirms existing evidence, and states that a post-project review will take place six months after the Universal Credit transformation program closes to assess benefits realised.
HM Treasury
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11 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
DWP evaluations assess Universal Credit's short-term labour market impact, not long-term individual effects
The Department’s evaluations have considered only the short-term impact of UC on the labour market.19 We asked about the longer-term impact on claimants’ employment status, beyond the six months after they started their claims. The Department acknowledged that it had … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects the implicit recommendation to track long-term individual employment impacts, stating it was not an objective of the UC programme and such tracking would not provide valuable insight for business case benefits. It asserts that current monitoring and evaluation programmes are sufficient.
HM Treasury
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12 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
DWP evaluations focus on employment likelihood, not job security or specific types of work
We also asked the Department about the types of jobs people took up after claiming UC and whether the jobs were secure. The Department told us that its evaluations showed only whether claimants were more likely to be in employment. … Read more
Government Response
The government disagrees with the implied recommendation to track job types and duration for UC claimants, stating it was not a program objective and would not provide the desired insights for evaluating Universal Credit's impact.
HM Treasury
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13 Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
DWP unable to assess Universal Credit's fraud and error impact against legacy benefits
The Department’s objective is for UC to save around £1.3 billion every year when fully implemented, from reduced losses due to fraud and error. However, changes during and since the COVID-19 pandemic, including in the nature of UC cases and … Read more
HM Treasury
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14 Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Universal Credit overpayments remain significantly high at 12.8%, exceeding pre-pandemic levels
The proportion of UC overpaid was 12.8% (£5.5 billion) in 2022–23, down from 14.7% (£5.9 billion) in 2021–22 but still significantly above pre-pandemic levels.23 We have previously reported on the increasing levels of fraud and error and made recommendations to … Read more
HM Treasury
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15 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Twenty-one percent of Tax Credit households failed to migrate to Universal Credit
At December 2023, nearly all the migration notices that the Department had sent (99.5%) had gone to households in receipt of Tax Credits alone. Of the 148,700 cases closed, 31,500 households (21%) had not applied for UC and their legacy … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, committing to publishing quarterly statistics on non-claim rates for wider legacy benefit types as they migrate and to publishing results of a dedicated survey of Tax Credit non-claims by the end of the year.
HM Treasury
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16 Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department initially underestimated Universal Credit non-claim rate for Tax Credit claimants.
The Department told us that, before the migration started, it had no evidence to use to assess how many Tax Credit claimants would not transfer to UC. At the time, the public finances had been under challenge so it had … Read more
HM Treasury
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17 Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department identifies multiple reasons for UC non-claims, including eligibility and small awards.
We asked the Department why so many people were not moving to UC. The Department said it had been doing research on this, including during the testing phase, and had changed how it did some things as a result – … Read more
HM Treasury
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18 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department does not fully understand why legacy benefit claimants fail to transfer to Universal Credit.
The Department does not fully understand why some people on legacy benefits do not transfer to UC.35 It told us that it drew some comfort about the non-claim rate from 28 C&AG’s Report, paras 2.11, 2.12, Figure 12 29 Qq … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and states it has been implemented, noting the department currently publishes statistics on claim rates to Universal Credit, by legacy benefit type, on a quarterly basis which will start to include the non-claim rates for wider legacy benefit types. It will also publish the results of the dedicated survey of Tax Credit non-claims and associated learning, by the end of the year.
HM Treasury
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19 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
High Universal Credit non-claim rate causes significant income loss for vulnerable households.
Organisations who work with benefit claimants submitted written evidence raising concerns about the non-claim rate and the implications if people did not move to UC. Citizens Advice, for example, said that the non-claim rate was alarmingly high and the resulting … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and states it has been implemented, noting the department currently publishes statistics on claim rates to Universal Credit, by legacy benefit type, on a quarterly basis which will start to include the non-claim rates for wider legacy benefit types. It will also publish the results of the dedicated survey of Tax Credit non-claims and associated learning, by the end of the year.
HM Treasury
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20 Recommendation Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department's UC migration support relies heavily on helplines, with minimal home visits provided.
The Department provides practical support for claimants moving from legacy benefits to UC through a variety of channels including online through the gov.uk website, via a free telephone helpline, and face-to-face at jobcentres and through its home visiting service. So … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation and states it has been implemented, noting that it has estimated the resource needed for enhanced support and will monitor the journey of claimants who are provided with this support, Complex Case Coach role has been introduced and the Move to Universal Credit Implementation Control Centre will oversee the monitoring.
HM Treasury
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21 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
External organisations express concerns over inadequate DWP support for vulnerable Universal Credit migrants.
Organisations who work with benefit claimants have raised concerns about the sufficiency and effectiveness of the support provided by the Department to people moving from legacy benefits under the migration process.43 In written evidence, the National Association of Welfare Rights … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's concerns and states it has implemented enhanced support, including estimating resources, monitoring claimant journeys, introducing a Complex Case Coach role, and establishing a control centre to oversee the process and resourcing.
HM Treasury
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22 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department plans enhanced support for vulnerable Universal Credit migrants, including home visits and reviews.
The Department expects to provide more support when it begins moving more vulnerable legacy benefit claimants to UC from April 2024. In September 2023, it began a phase of testing involving 2,000 households on Housing Benefit, Income Support, 36 Q … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and states the recommendation is implemented, detailing how it has estimated resources, will monitor the enhanced support journey for vulnerable claimants, introduced a Complex Case Coach role, and will oversee monitoring of the enhanced support journey.
HM Treasury
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23 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department confident in UC migration support, expanding visiting officers to 56 by December 2024.
We asked the Department whether it was confident it could track people down and support them to continue to claim benefits, and how many more visiting officers it was planning to recruit. The Department said it was confident that it … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's point, stating it has estimated resources for enhanced support, will monitor claimant journeys and needs, and has introduced a Complex Case Coach role and a control centre to oversee support and detect resourcing concerns.
HM Treasury
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24 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department projects increased uptake of independent "Help to Claim" service over next two years.
The ‘Help to Claim’ service has been a source of independent support and advice to people making a UC claim since April 2019. The Department funds Citizens Advice to support people to claim UC, either as a new claimant or … Read more
Government Response
The government states the recommendation has been implemented, detailing existing comprehensive monitoring activities and ongoing work with Citizens Advice to ensure the Help to Claim service remains effective and can meet demand, especially for future claimant migrations.
HM Treasury
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25 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department reduced annual "Help to Claim" funding and stopped face-to-face support since March 2022.
The Department is providing total funding of £192.4 million for the Help to Claim service from 2019–20 to 2025–26.54 It has been reducing annual funding – from £38 million in 2019–20 to £22 million in 2023–24 and £19 million per … Read more
Government Response
The government states it agrees with the implicit recommendation and confirms it already comprehensively monitors the Help to Claim service, working with Citizens Advice to ensure effective support. It is also considering the impact of upcoming migration changes to ensure appropriate support.
HM Treasury
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26 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Most Help to Claim support not provided by Citizens Advice or direct face-to-face services.
We asked the Department whether it had conducted an impact assessment of the removal of face-to-face support from the Help to Claim service. The Department said that it had looked at how people received support and found that the vast … Read more
Government Response
The government states the recommendation is implemented, detailing existing comprehensive monitoring activities of the Help to Claim service and expressing confidence in its current effectiveness, without committing to address the specific concern regarding the removal of face-to-face support or conducting an impact assessment of its removal.
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27 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department commits to supporting claimants through vital visiting teams, monitoring resource allocation.
We asked whether it was more cost-effective for the Department to expand its home- visiting service as opposed to putting extra resources into the Help to Claim service. The Department told us that it was committed to supporting claimants, particularly … Read more
Government Response
The government states it agrees with the implicit recommendation and confirms it already comprehensively monitors the Help to Claim service, working with Citizens Advice to ensure effective support. It is also considering the impact of upcoming migration changes to ensure appropriate support.
HM Treasury
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28 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Organisations express concern over lost face-to-face Help to Claim support and inadequate advice resources.
In written evidence, organisations who work with benefit claimants raised concerns about the fact that the Help to Claim service no longer included face-to-face support. The National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers said that the Department had reduced support at … Read more
Government Response
The government states the recommendation is implemented, detailing existing comprehensive monitoring activities of the Help to Claim service and expressing confidence in its current effectiveness, without committing to address the specific concern regarding the loss of face-to-face support.
HM Treasury
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29 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department provides transitional protection to 330,000 migrating households to avoid Universal Credit detriment.
The Department provides financial support to claimants it moves under the managed migration process, known as ‘transitional protection’, to make sure they are not worse off on UC at the point of moving than they were on legacy benefits. The … Read more
Government Response
The government disagrees with the implied recommendation, stating the Universal Credit Migration Notice has been rigorously tested and that feedback suggests claimants prefer the notice to focus on required actions rather than other messages.
HM Treasury
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30 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Concerns raised regarding accuracy, transparency, and consistency of transitional protection calculations.
In written evidence, organisations who work with benefit claimants raised concerns about how the transitional protection arrangements were working, specifically about how the Department calculated amounts due, how accurate its calculations were, and the risk that people were receiving incorrect … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects the implied recommendation to address concerns about transitional protection transparency, stating the Migration Notice is effective and claimants prefer it concise. It notes a technical guide for advisors exists and is considering what other general information might be provided.
HM Treasury
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31 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Department acknowledges claimant difficulty understanding transitional protection, developing guidance with stakeholders.
We asked the Department what it was doing to help vulnerable individuals understand the transitional protection arrangements. The Department told us that during its testing phase it had found that claimants struggled to understand how transitional protection worked – it … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects the implicit recommendation to improve vulnerable claimants' understanding of transitional protection, stating the Migration Notice is effective and claimants prefer it concise. It notes a technical guide for advisors exists and is considering what other general information might be provided.
HM Treasury
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32 Conclusion Rejected
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Automated transitional protection calculations rely on correct data input; claimant transparency is limited.
The Department also told us that it had automated much of the transitional protection process so that calculations were done on the system by a tested algorithm, but the system relied on the right information being input. It highlighted that … Read more
Government Response
The government rejects the implied recommendation to provide more detailed transitional protection rules to claimants, stating the Migration Notice is effective and claimants prefer it concise. It notes a technical guide for advisors exists and is considering what other general information might be provided.
HM Treasury
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33 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Government delayed moving income-related ESA claimants to Universal Credit until 2028 to save £1 billion.
In the 2022 Autumn Statement, the Government announced that it would delay the move of claimants on income-related ESA to UC until 2028 to save £1 billion.66 The Department told us that the economic circumstances at the time had been … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the implicit recommendation, confirming a recent policy change to bring forward the migration of ESA claimants to 2024-25 instead of 2028. It states it has existing learnings and further plans to monitor the enhanced support journey for these claimants, with initial findings expected in 2024.
HM Treasury
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34 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Delaying ESA migration costs 600,000 claimants £130 in monthly benefits until 2028.
The Department has estimated that 51% of ESA claimants, who are likely to include some of the more vulnerable claimants due to migrate to UC, would have been better off on UC by around £130 a month on average.69 In … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees and acknowledges the need to bring forward the migration of the Employment and Support Allowance cohort from 2028 to 2024-25, citing a recent policy change to accelerate this process. The department will also monitor the effectiveness of enhanced support for ESA claimants moving to Universal Credit.
HM Treasury
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35 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Voluntary ESA to UC migration risks losing transitional protection, impacting benefit savings estimates.
ESA claimants can move to UC voluntarily before 2028 but would not qualify for transitional protection should their UC entitlement be lower than their legacy benefit income.72 We asked whether it is possible for people to get a reliable estimate … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the implicit recommendation, confirming a recent policy change to bring forward the migration of ESA claimants to 2024-25 instead of 2028. It states it has existing learnings and further plans to monitor the enhanced support journey for these claimants, with initial findings expected in 2024.
HM Treasury
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36 Conclusion Accepted
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in …
Government's delay in migrating ESA claimants to Universal Credit lacks a clear plan.
The Government’s decision to delay the move of ESA claimants to UC until 2028 means that the Department will not complete implementation of UC until at least six years later than it planned in 2018.75 The Department told us that … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the implicit recommendation to develop a plan, confirming a recent policy change to bring forward the migration of ESA claimants to 2024-25 instead of 2028. It states it has existing learnings and further plans to monitor the enhanced support journey for these claimants, with initial findings expected in 2024.
HM Treasury
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Government Response AI assessment · 32 of 5 classified
Accepted 21
Deferred 1
Rejected 10
Total 5 recs + 31 conclusions
Correspondence 3 letters
8 May 2024 Correspondence from Peter Schofield CB, Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions, re Acceleration of Universal Credit rollout, dated 1 May 2024
Parliament page
26 Apr 2024 Correspondence dated 26 April 2024 from the Chair to Peter Schofield CB Permanent Secretary Department for Work and Pensions relating to the inquiry Progress in implementing Universal Credit
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15 Apr 2024 Correspondence from Peter Schofield CB, Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions, re Progress in implementing Universal Credit, dated 22 March 2024
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