Recommendations & Conclusions
36 items
2
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Rejected
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 for Universal Credit in 2018 or earlier. The findings include …
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
3
Recommendation
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 moved to Universal Credit and so have had their benefit …
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 …
HM Treasury
4
Recommendation
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 moving to Universal Credit has mainly been through its telephone …
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
5
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 through grant funding agreements between the Department and Citizens Advice, …
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
6
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Rejected
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 on Universal Credit at the point of moving. It tops …
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 …
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 effectively. The Government announced, in the 2022 Autumn Statement, that …
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
1
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 …
HM Treasury
8
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Rejected
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 these, based on data from 2018, found new UC claimants …
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
9
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Rejected
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 compare the labour market impact of UC with legacy benefits, …
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 …
HM Treasury
10
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Deferred
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 comparative evaluations had consistently shown that UC outperformed Jobseeker’s Allowance, …
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
11
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Rejected
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 measured the effects of UC on individuals only in the …
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 …
HM Treasury
12
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Rejected
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. It added that its first evaluation did consider the levels …
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
13
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
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 the Department’s easing of controls, have led the Department to …
HM Treasury
14
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
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 help the Department address the problem, including in our recent …
HM Treasury
15
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 benefit had been stopped. The Department found during its testing …
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 …
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
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 decided to make a safe assessment of what the non-claim …
HM Treasury
17
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
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 – for example, it had made it clearer in its migration …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
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 93–94 30 Q 75 31 C&AG’s Report, para 2.11 32 …
HM Treasury
19
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
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 loss of income was likely to have a significant impact …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
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 far, the Department’s support for Tax Credit claimants moving to …
HM Treasury
21
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 Advisers told us that there seemed to be a lack …
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
22
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 20 37 Department for Work & Pensions, Move to Universal …
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
23
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 could provide the necessary support and that it had the …
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
24
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 someone moving from a legacy benefit, with support available from …
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
25
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 year on average over the next two years.55 Until March …
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 …
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 majority got support through their family and friends, or from …
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 …
HM Treasury
27
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 those who were moving from its legacy benefits, to make …
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 …
HM Treasury
28
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 the very time when it was clear that there was …
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
29
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Rejected
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 Department calculates a claimant’s UC entitlement and then adds a …
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
30
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Rejected
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 payments which they could not check themselves due to a …
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 …
HM Treasury
31
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Rejected
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 was a simple concept but a complex policy to explain. …
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 …
HM Treasury
32
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Rejected
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 it informed claimants how much of their UC award was …
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 …
HM Treasury
33
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 such that there was a need to find fiscal savings …
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 …
HM Treasury
34
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 June 2022, it forecast that there were about 1.2 million …
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 …
HM Treasury
35
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 of their UC entitlement to allow them to make an …
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 …
HM Treasury
36
Conclusion
Twenty-Ninth Report - Progress in imple…
Accepted
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 the number of people on 66 C&AG’s Report, para 17. …
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 …
HM Treasury