Universal Credit rollout invites Income Support claimants

People claiming Income Support were to be invited to claim Universal Credit in June 2024, according to the Law Centre NI's Social Security Law and Practice Bulletin for summer 2024¹. The invitation forms part of the next phase of the Universal Credit rollout for tax credit and legacy benefit claimants¹.

The bulletin sets out the sequence of invitations by claimant group¹:

The bulletin does not state how many Income Support claimants are affected, how the invitations are issued, or the deadline for claiming, and these details have not been reported¹.

Separately, the bulletin reports that the administrative earnings threshold for Universal Credit was to rise. Under the Universal Credit (Administrative Earnings Threshold) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2024, the threshold was to increase from 15 hours per week at the National Living Wage for an individual to 18 hours, and from 24 hours per week for couples to 29 hours¹. In cash terms this raises the thresholds from £617 per calendar month for an individual to £892, and from £988 for couples to £1,437¹. The revised threshold was to apply to existing and new Universal Credit claimants, including those moved across under managed migration¹.

The bulletin also records that from 1 July 2024 the Department for Communities was to begin recording new data on claimants with pre-settled status, covering those who have received an individualised assessment, those granted Universal Credit after that assessment, and those refused it¹. It notes that the Department is required to carry out a risk assessment before refusing Universal Credit to claimants with pre-settled status, following the Court of Justice of the European Union judgment in the CG case¹.

On fraud and error, the bulletin says the Department for Work and Pensions planned to hire 2,500 external agents to tackle fraud and error in the Universal Credit system¹. A Freedom of Information response showed no increase in cases opened for fraud, investigations or interviews under caution in 2023/24, and a decrease in detected fraud, while an additional 33 staff had been deployed on error detection since April 2023¹.

Why it matters for households

Income Support claimants who receive an invitation are being brought into Universal Credit, which replaces the legacy benefit. The move changes how a claim is calculated and paid, and how often, and it brings in the housing element in place of Housing Benefit for those who rent. The bulletin does not set out the deadline for claiming once an invitation arrives, or what happens to existing awards in the meantime, and these points have not been reported¹.

The higher administrative earnings threshold matters for claimants who work while claiming. Once the threshold applies, a claimant earning below it falls into the intensive work search regime, with more frequent contact with the jobcentre, while those above it face lighter conditionality. The change applies to existing and new claimants, including those moved across under managed migration¹.

For claimants with pre-settled status, the new recording from 1 July 2024 concerns how the Department for Communities tracks who has been assessed for risk before a Universal Credit refusal¹.

What happens next

The bulletin lists further invitation stages: people claiming Housing Benefit only, and people claiming Child Tax Credits with Employment and Support Allowance (Income Related), in July 2024, and people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (Income-Based) in September 2024¹. The pre-settled status data recording was to begin on 1 July 2024¹.