Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 35
35
Accepted
Voluntary ESA to UC migration risks losing transitional protection, impacting benefit savings estimates.
Conclusion
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 informed decision about whether to move voluntarily. The Department highlighted that there are three benefit calculators, run by various groups and all available through the gov.uk website, that people can use to get an estimate of their entitlement under UC.73 It also confirmed, however, that the expected savings from delaying the move of ESA claimants depended on most of those who would be better off on UC not switching voluntarily.74
Government Response Summary
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.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
7.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 7.2 The department acknowledges the need to be ready for migration of the Employment and Support Allowance cohort in 2024-25 as opposed to 2028. This is in-light of the recent policy change to bring the migration of the Employment and Support Allowance cohort forward and deliver this element as part of the current Universal Credit Programme. 7.3 The department has existing learnings from the Discovery phases run in 2022 and 2023 which included claimants on Employment and Support Allowance. There are further plans to build upon this by capturing how effective the enhanced support journey is at supporting claimants on Employment and Support Allowance to Move to Universal Credit. 7.4 This monitoring will include, but is not limited to, claim rates and channel, time to claim and additional support needed. Initial findings based on Employment and Support Allowance claimants with Tax Credits will be emerging this calendar year, 2024.