Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 23
23
Accepted
Department confident in UC migration support, expanding visiting officers to 56 by December 2024.
Conclusion
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 necessary resources. It plans to have 33 (full- time equivalent, or FTE) visiting officers supporting the managed migration programme by July 2024 and 56 (FTE) by December 2024 when it expects home visits to peak.51 It estimates about 10% of claimants moving to UC will need visiting officers.52 The Help to Claim service
Government Response Summary
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.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 The department has estimated the resource needed for enhanced support and will monitor the journey of claimants who are provided with this support, including claim rates, phone claims and support needed to make a claim. The volume of phone calls made and referrals for face-to-face visits will also be monitored to ensure operational capacity is available to continue to deliver the enhanced support journey. 4.3 A Complex Case Coach role has been introduced to review cases where the initial stages of the Enhanced Support Journey do not result in a claim to Universal Credit, this will include an full assessment of whether a face-to-face visit will be required. 4.4 The Move to Universal Credit Implementation Control Centre will oversee the monitoring of how many claimants are in the enhanced support journey, paying focus to those who have been receiving enhanced support for a prolonged period and detecting, at an early stage, if there are concerns around resourcing for this function, including the face-to-face support element.