Completing the move to Universal Credit: Statistics related to the move of households claiming Tax Credits and DWP Benefits to Universal Credit: data to end of September 2024
Published 12 November 2024
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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Main Stories
It should be noted that households who have been sent a migration notice to date may not be representative of the complete population who will be sent a migration notice.
In the period covered by this bulletin, the majority of migration notices had been sent to tax credit households whose likelihood of claiming UC and receiving transitional protection may be different from DWP legacy benefit customers, the majority of whom had not yet been sent a migration notice in the period covered in this bulletin.
The statistics show that between July 2022 and September 2024:
- A total of 1,369,367 individuals in 943,343 households have been sent migration notices.
- A total of 883,944 of these individuals, living in 622,127 households, who were sent migration notices have made a claim to Universal Credit.
- Of those who have claimed Universal Credit, 320,376 households have been awarded transitional protection.
- A total of 166,594 of individuals who were sent migration notices are still going through the Move to UC process.
- A total of 318,834 of individuals who were sent migration notices did not claim UC and have had their legacy benefit claims closed.
- Amongst households sent a migration notice up to the end of May 2024 (allowing for a three month claim period and an additional month in which transitional protection would be considered if a claim was completed in this period), 73% had made a claim to Universal Credit and 27% had not made a claim and their legacy benefit was ended.
Introduction
Universal Credit (UC) has streamlined and simplified the benefits system by combining six ‘legacy’ benefits (Working Tax Credits (WTC), Child Tax Credit (CTC), Housing Benefit (HB), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), Income Support (IS) and income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)) into a single monthly payment.
By the end of 2018, UC was rolled out to all Jobcentres for new customers. However, there still remains a substantial number of households claiming legacy benefits. The total number of people and households currently claiming UC can be found on DWP’s Stat-Xplore web-site under “Households on Universal Credit”.
DWP’s strategy for moving these remaining households to UC is formed of three ‘tracks’ of migration (natural, voluntary and managed), as set out in the department’s Completing the Move to UC policy document, published in April 2022.
This statistical bulletin focuses on cohorts of benefit recipients where the migration notice (MN) was sent in or after July 2022. Information on recipients who were sent MNs before this period is available in an earlier publication Completing the move to Universal Credit: Learning from the Discovery Phase. This document explains what Discovery is and the process employed by the department for moving people from legacy benefits to UC.
A research report covering additional insight on Tax Credit migrations and initial Discovery activity for wider benefit cohorts was published on 29 February 2024.
An ad-hoc statistical release detailing the number of complaints recorded specifically in relation to Move to UC was published on 14 May 2024. This updated an earlier ad-hoc statistical release published on 11 March 2024.
These statistics include the numbers of MNs sent, UC claims made, legacy benefit claims closed, reminders sent, and transitional protection (TP) awards made. A more detailed description of TP is included in the background information and methodology document. They also include demographic breakdowns of the data relating to these cohorts.
It should be noted that customers who have been sent a MN to date will not be representative of the complete population who will be sent a MN.
In particular, in the period covered by this bulletin the majority of migration notices have been sent to TC households whose likelihood of claiming UC and receiving TP may be different from DWP legacy benefit customers, the majority of whom had not yet been sent a migration notice in the period covered in this bulletin.
Guidance
Data were extracted from DWP administrative systems on 07 October 2024.
The month column in all tables indicates the month in which the MN was sent.
All figures have had Statistical Disclosure Control applied.
Note that individual figures in tables may not sum to the total in tables due to Statistical Disclosure Control.
Where quoted, percentages have been calculated using figures in which Statistical Disclosure Control has been applied.
’..’ in tables indicate a nil or negligible count.
Further guidance on these statistics is available in the background information and methodology document.
Migration Notices
A total of 1,369,367 individuals in 943,343 households have been sent migration notices up to the end of September 2024.
426,022 couple households have been sent a migration notice, representing 45% of migration notices sent to households.
Stage of Move to Universal Credit process
Legacy benefit customers receiving a migration notice are given a period of three months within which to claim.
They may also be sent one or more reminders and the claim deadline may be extended.
Note: customers may be able to get more time to make a claim if they have a good reason and request this before the deadline date the MN letter. If a claim is completed within a month of the claim deadline, a customer would still be eligible to be considered for transitional protection.
Table 1 below shows the cumulative number of migration notices sent to both individual customers and households, who are recorded in one of three stages of the process.
‘in progress’ indicates that a migration notice has been sent but no claim to Universal Credit has yet been made but the claim deadline (either original or extended) has not yet been reached.
‘not claimed and legacy benefit closed’ indicates that no claim to Universal Credit has been made, the claim deadline (either original or extended) has been reached and the legacy benefit claim has been stopped.
‘claimed UC’ indicates that a claim to Universal Credit has been made by the individual/household and identity verification in relation to that claim has been completed.
Transitional protection is awarded on a household basis and can consist of a transitional capital disregard and/or a transitional element. Eligibility for transitional protection, and the amount awarded, may change over the course of the Universal Credit claim if customers’ circumstances change.
Further breakdowns the number of migration notices sent, including a time series breakdown and demographic breakdowns are available from Stat-Xplore web-site under “Move to Universal Credit”.
Table 1: Migration Notices sent and claims made to UC between July 2022 and September 2024
| Individuals | Households | |
|---|---|---|
| Migration notices sent of which: | 1,369,367 | 943,343 |
| in progress | 166,594 | 123,788 |
| legacy benefits closed | 318,834 | 197,432 |
| number claimed UC, of which: | 883,944 | 622,127 |
| number of households awarded transitional protection | – | 320,376 |
| percentage of households awarded transitional protection | – | 51% |
Claiming Universal Credit
When assessing the rate at which customers sent a migration notice who go on to either claim UC, or not claim UC and have their legacy benefit stopped, users of these statistics should take account that the cumulative number will include a large number who have not yet completed the Move to UC process (classified as ‘in progress’ in Table 1).
It is recommended that claim and non-claim rates are calculated using the cohort of customers sent a migration notice where at least four months have elapsed. For this release, this would consist of migration notices sent up to the end of May 2024, amongst which, 99.8% of customers have completed the Move to UC process.
Table 2 below contains the number of individuals and households sent migration notices up to the end of May 2024 and, amongst these groups, the number and percentage who claimed UC or did not claim UC. Note that a very small number of customers may have been granted an extension to claim and, therefore, will still be recorded as ‘in progress’.
Definitions used to calculate the number of claims made are given in the background information and methodology document.
Further demographic breakdowns are available from Stat-Xplore web-site under “Move to Universal Credit”.
Table 2: Migration Notices sent and claims made to UC between July 2022 and May 2024
| Individuals | Households | |
|---|---|---|
| Migration notices sent, of which: | 1,044,096 | 708,091 |
| number claimed UC | 735,159 | 516,108 |
| percentage claimed UC | 70% | 73% |
| not claimed & legacy benefits closed | 307,217 | 190,727 |
| percentage not claimed and legacy benefits closed | 29% | 27% |
Contact information and feedback
DWP would like to hear your views on these statistics. We would be interested in hearing what you use them for and how well they meet your requirements.
Feedback and queries about the statistics can be sent to [email protected].
Press enquiries should be directed to the DWP Press Office: 0115 965 8828. E-mail: [email protected].
Lead Statisticians: Ashley Buckner, Bryony Maw and Mike Payne
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