SSAC to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions: The Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019
Published 15 January 2019
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The Rt Hon Amber Rudd MP
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
4th Floor
Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1H 9NA
11 January 2019
Dear Secretary of State,
The Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019.
You will already be aware that this Committee has agreed that the above regulations may proceed without the need for their formal reference to us.
We welcome the introduction of a cap into the regulations and the commitment to review whether the process is working as intended after the pilot has ended. As you will know, we have previously recommended that the department should be prepared to make some fundamental changes, including to the legislation if necessary, following the initial test and learn phase. Therefore this represents a positive step forward.
That said, we would like to have a greater understanding about the rationale for the design of the cap, and how it will be applied in practice. It strikes us that it would have been easier to manage operationally if the department were to cap the number of migration notices issued at 10,000, rather than base it on the number of awards made in response to those notices. The proposals mean that the department cannot know precisely how many claimants will be migrated before the cap takes effect. It also misses an opportunity to develop a greater understanding of the extent of the fall-out rate of those that never proceed to Universal Credit and the reasons behind that. This is a widely held fear, and limiting the number of notices issued to 10,000 would help to keep that concern in focus.
While the Committee has confirmed that it does not intend to take these regulations on formal reference, we shall be inviting officials to attend our next Committee meeting on 30 January in order that we can explore the proposals in more detail and understand the work that has gone into these revised regulations.
In advance of that discussion it would be helpful to have your response to the points raised above, and also to those raised in my letter of 12 December in which I set out the Committee’s views on how the revised regulations (laid on 5 November) could be further strengthened. This will assist the Committee in understanding the government’s perspective in order to provide you with effective advice.
In closing, let me say again that the Committee welcomes the positive direction taken in these regulations, and also the clear signal that the government is prepared to listen to the concerns of both this Committee and the wider stakeholder community.
Professor Sir Ian Diamond
Chair