Universal Credit

Department for Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 17 July 2017.

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Photo of Debbie Abrahams Debbie Abrahams Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of claimants whose legacy benefits have not been protected following a transfer to universal credit.

Photo of Debbie Abrahams Debbie Abrahams Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to ensure that people who have not retained the legacy benefits that they are entitled to can have such benefits reinstated swiftly.

Photo of Damian Hinds Damian Hinds The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions

Claimants currently moving from existing benefits to Universal Credit will only do so because they will have had a significant change in their circumstances that would previously have triggered a new claim to an existing benefit or tax credit. In such circumstances they would always have had their entitlement calculated based on the rules of their new benefit. This principle has been maintained for those moving to Universal Credit.

We have announced that we will be starting managed migration of existing benefit claimants to Universal Credit from July 2019 and that this will be completed by March 2022. We have committed that we will pay transitional protection to all claimants who move to Universal Credit as part of this process and whose entitlement is less than their entitlement to existing benefits and tax credits.

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