Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 3
3
Accepted
Publish Universal Credit non-claim rates and survey results of non-transferring legacy benefit claimants.
Recommendation
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 stopped. The median value of Tax Credits received by people who did not claim Universal Credit was £3,200 a year. The Department has a limited understanding of why some people do not switch to Universal Credit, but says it is reassured by having received only 20 complaints about the migration process from April to December 2023. But this does not provide sufficient assurance that people are not falling into hardship. The Department is now planning a survey of people who have not claimed UC, having before not been routinely in contact with people to ask why they are not claiming. Organisations who work with benefit claimants are also concerned about the proportion of legacy benefit claimants not transferring to Universal Credit and the financial impact it may have on them. The Department expects the non-claim rate for households claiming its legacy benefits, who are being migrated from April 2024, will be much lower at around 4%. However, even a small proportion of people not transferring to Universal Credit could translate into a substantial number of people facing financial hardship. Recommendation 3: The Department should publish by the end of August 2024 the Universal Credit non-claim rates by type of legacy benefit, and set out the action it is taking in the event that the non-claim rates are higher than expected. Before the end of the year, the Department should also publish the results of the survey of those Tax Credit claimants who did not apply for Universal Credit alongside a statement of what lessons it would learn.
Government Response Summary
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.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented The department currently publishes statistics on claim rates to Universal Credit, by legacy benefit type, on a quarterly basis. These statistics will start to include the non-claim rates for wider legacy benefit types (over and above the initial Tax Credits cohort) as these additional cohorts begin to be migrated in sufficient numbers onto Universal Credit. The amount of data available on non-claim rates by legacy benefit type will still be quite limited for the August 2024 publication (which will include data up to the end of June 2024), due to the migration timescales. The non-claim rates will be monitored closely via the Move to Universal Credit Implementation Control Centre, whilst they are close to forecasts presently, should the rates be higher than expected from discovery work, further analysis and investigation will be undertaken. If the insights from this work suggest there are issues to be addressed, the Universal Credit Programme will develop remedial actions based on the insights. The department will be content to share details of these actions with the Committee, should they be required. In addition, the department will publish the results of the dedicated survey of Tax Credit non-claims and associated learning, by the end of the year.