Latest DWP Move to UC statistics released

The Department for Work and Pensions published its latest Move to Universal Credit statistics on 13 August 2024, covering the period to June 2024¹. The figures show that around a third of people (34.4%) receiving a migration notice asking them to move to Universal Credit from their legacy benefits did not claim in time, meaning their benefits stopped¹. Since managed migration began, over a quarter of a million people have failed to move to Universal Credit¹.

The composition of who receives a notice has changed sharply. Three months earlier, only 2,600 (0.3%) cases involved DWP benefit claimants, with the other 820,000 (99.7%) notices going to people receiving Tax Credits¹. The latest figures show 270,000 (23.5%) of notices have gone to DWP benefit claimants and 870,000 (76.3%) to Tax Credit claimants¹. Of the most recent notices, sent in the last three months, around 260,000 (84%) went to DWP claimants and 50,000 (16%) to Tax Credit claimants¹. Apart from March 2024, the overall number of notices issued has stayed broadly constant since October 2023 at around 100,000 a month¹.

People are given three months to move, with a possible one-month extension¹. The DWP plans to have sent migration notices to 220,000 households whose rent is met in full or in part through Housing Benefit by next April¹. From October, it plans to extend managed migration to the remaining Employment and Support Allowance claimants, approximately 800,000 people¹. In the current phase, lasting until April 2025, only 80,000 ESA claimants are included, because they also claim Child Tax Credit¹. Tax Credits are due to come to an end completely by April next year¹.

The DWP's plan for notices in the 2024-25 financial year, as at autumn 2023, is set out below¹.

Group	Notices planned
JSA income based	20,000
ESA income based (and Child Tax Credits)	90,000
Income Support	110,000
Tax Credit & Housing Benefit	120,000
Tax Credit only	10,000
Housing Benefit only	100,000
Total	440,000

Asked about breakdowns by benefit combination, the DWP said:

"We have set out in section '4. Intended developments to the statistics and timeline' of the Release Strategy our intention to look at what additional breakdowns of statistics we can feasibly look to publish in the future which includes a benefits combination breakdown."

The Release Strategy was published on 13 February 2024¹.

Why it matters for households

A migration notice sets a deadline. If a household does not claim Universal Credit in time, the legacy benefit stops, and the 34.4% close rate means this has happened to over a quarter of a million people since managed migration began¹. The group now being contacted is different from earlier phases: DWP benefit claimants are less likely to be working or to have worked recently, and are more likely to be vulnerable and to be disabled, according to entitledto¹. For households whose rent is paid through Housing Benefit, a failed claim means that help with rent ends, and entitledto notes the risk of eviction, with 220,000 such households due to receive notices by next April¹. Anyone who has received a notice can read our guide to migration notices, how Universal Credit works, and moving to Universal Credit from legacy benefits. Households affected by the Housing Benefit phase may find our pages on help with rent and Housing Benefit versus the Universal Credit housing element relevant.

What happens next

The next set of statistics is due in November, when entitledto says the position on DWP benefit claimants reaching their deadline should be clearer¹. From October, the DWP plans to extend managed migration to the remaining ESA claimants, around 800,000 people¹. Tax Credits are due to end completely by April next year¹. Entitledto notes that the new government's position on the pace of the roll-out has not yet been set out, and that the new Secretary of State, Liz Kendall, may use her speech to the Labour Party Conference in late September to signal a change of focus¹.

Sources1 cited