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
10 results
Clear
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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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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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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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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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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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
Parliament page
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
Parliament page