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Government to seek volunteers for first switch to Universal Credit
The government will seek volunteers to become the first people to switch directly from the old benefits system to Universal Credit, Inside Housing can reveal.
Sources close to the pilot said that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans to ask benefit claimants in Harrogate, which is piloting the first phase of the managed migration to Universal Credit, to opt in to using the new programme at work-focused interviews at job centres.
Through managed migration, people currently claiming up to six benefits through the old welfare system will move onto single, monthly payments with Universal Credit.
It is understood that only a small number of people are expected to be the first volunteers for the pilot starting in July and December – although a DWP source said it has no target for the number of people it plans to move over by a given date.
The DWP declined to comment or confirm whether people will be asked to transfer voluntarily.
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Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd announced in March that Harrogate would be the first pilot area for the Universal Credit managed migration.
The government revealed plans to run a managed migration pilot of up to 10,000 people in October last year amid cross-party concern about Universal Credit’s impact on vulnerable people.
Ministers plan to move three million legacy benefit claimants onto Universal Credit through managed migration by 2023.
The Harrogate pilot is due to start next month and Inside Housing understands that officials are working towards a target start date of 17 July.
However, MPs are still yet to vote on the Universal Credit regulations that would allow the government to start shifting people over from the legacy welfare system.
The Universal Credit (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018 bill was withdrawn from parliament on 14 January.
Estimates for how many people could migrate to Universal Credit in Harrogate vary between around 3,000 and 5,000 – well below the 10,000 pilot threshold.
All new benefit claimants must now use Universal Credit, and the full service operates in every UK job centre.
Government figures released this week show that more than two million people are now on the six-in-one benefit, with upwards of 100,000 people moving over between April and May.
Grenfell: two years on
Picture: Rex Features
We have published a number of articles to mark the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June:
How politicians missed the chance to stop Grenfell: A special investigation looking into the government’s failure to act on the warnings from the fatal Lakanal House fire in 2009 in time to prevent the Grenfell tragedy.
Listen here to an audio version of the article:
Barking fire shows many fire safety gaps remain two years after Grenfell: This week the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower tragedy was marked by fire destroying another block of flats. This is why it is time to step up efforts to improve fire safety, writes Martin Hilditch.
Grenfell’s forgotten victims: life on the Lancaster West after the fire Residents of the flats surrounding Grenfell Tower have been through a housing crisis like no other – many diagnosed with PTSD as a result. Luke Barratt hears some of their stories.
Have the promises made after Grenfell been kept?: After the Grenfell Tower fire, people in power made a number of pledges. But two years on from the tragedy, have they been true to their word? Peter Apps finds out.
Grenfell management company ignored Lakanal recommendations after government said they would not be mandatory: A previously unreleased report shows that Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation ignored advice from the Lakanal House fire coroner after Department for Communities and Local Government officials said they would “not become mandatory”.
Barking fire makes the urgent need for action only too clear: The horrific fire in Barking on Sunday is a reminder that there is much to do when it comes to residents’ safety, writes Jules Birch.
We got the Grenfell rehousing process wrong and it is time to apologies to survivors:
The rush to hit arbitrary deadlines in the rehousing process put pressure on survivors, when pressure was the last thing they needed. It’s time to say sorry, again, writes Kim Taylor-Smith, deputy leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council.
