Official Statistics

Completing the move to Universal Credit: experimental statistics related to the move of households claiming Tax Credits and DWP benefits to Universal Credit: data to end of May 2023

Published 15 August 2023

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

The latest release of these statistics can be found in the collection of Move to Universal Credit statistics.

These are new quarterly experimental statistics on the number of people who have been sent managed migration notices inviting them to claim Universal Credit.

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 particular, the vast majority so far have been single tax credit households whose likelihood of claiming UC and receiving transitional protection may be different to couple tax credit households and/or DWP legacy benefit claimants, the majority of whom have not yet been sent a migration notice.

The data in this bulletin covers single households only. The small number of couple households who were sent migration notices towards the end of May 2023 are excluded from this analysis but will be included in the next quarterly update.

The statistics show:

• between July 2022 and May 2023, a total of 22,190 households of tax credits (both Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits) and the ‘legacy’ DWP Benefits which are being replaced by Universal Credit (income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance) had been sent migration notices
• of these, a total of 7,800 of these households have, up to the end of May 2023, made a claim to Universal Credit
• amongst those who have claimed Universal Credit, 4,930 have been awarded transitional protection

Introduction

Universal Credit (UC) has streamlined and simplified the benefits system by combining 6 ‘legacy’ benefits into a single monthly payment:

• Working Tax Credits (WTC)
• Child Tax Credit (CTC)
• Housing Benefit (HB)
• income-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
• Income Support (IS)
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)

By the end of 2018, UC was rolled out to all Jobcentres for new claimants. 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 website under “Households on Universal Credit”.

DWP’s strategy for moving these remaining households to UC is formed of 3 ‘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.

These experimental statistics include the numbers of MNs sent, UC claims made, legacy benefit claims closed, reminders sent, and transitional protection (TP) awards made. It also includes demographic breakdowns of the data relating to these cohorts.

During July and August 2022, households in receipt of CTC, WTC, HB, IB, IS and JSA were sent MNs. From September 2022 onwards, the Move to UC programme concentrated on recipients of tax credits.

It should be noted that claimants who have been sent an MN to date will not be representative of the complete population who will be sent an MN.

In particular, the vast majority so far have been single TC households whose likelihood of claiming UC and receiving TP may be different to couple TC households and/or DWP legacy benefit claimants, the majority of whom have not yet been sent a migration notice.

Guidance

All figures are rounded to 10.

Note that individual figures in tables may not sum to the total in tables due to independent rounding. When rounding a multiple of 5, the IEC 60559 standard is used, meaning that rounding is towards an even multiple of ten.

Where quoted, percentages have been calculated using unrounded values.

’..’ in tables indicate a nil or negligible count.

Further guidance on these statistics is available in the background information and methodology document.

Migration Notices sent

Overall numbers of households moved to Universal Credit

Counts are given up to the most recent complete month before data were extracted from administrative systems (May 2023). Households are given an initial period of three months within which to claim. They may also be sent one or more reminders. This means that an overall claim rate calculated over all months will under-estimate the actual claim rate as it will not correctly account for people who are yet to claim.

Figures for all months still may be subject to changes as further extensions may be granted to claimants.

The month column in all tables indicates the month in which the MN was sent.

Table 1: Month MN Sent (July 2022 to May 2023)

Month MN Sent	Migration Notices sent	of which reminders sent	Claims	of which claimed before deadline	of which awarded TP	In progress	Closed
All Months	22,190	14,820	7,800	7,500	4,930	13,210	1,190
Jul 2022	860	660	780	680	420	..	80
Aug 2022	200	170	160	130	90	..	40
Sep 2022	280	210	210	180	140	..	70
Oct 2022	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Nov 2022	80	80	60	60	50	..	20
Dec 2022	100	80	70	60	60	..	20
Jan 2023	530	420	430	390	320	..	110
Feb 2023	980	750	730	670	530	..	260
Mar 2023	1,020	840	650	620	410	10	360
Apr 2023	5,080	3,970	2,400	2,400	1,450	2,440	230
May 2023	13,060	7,650	2,310	2,320	1,450	10,750	..

Notes: ‘..’ indicates nil or negligible

Between July 2022 and September 2022, Move to UC was in an extended ‘Discovery’ phase, building on learning from the ETS phase. No MNs were sent in October 2022. From November 2022 onwards, the programme entered its operational phase.

All households sent an MN have been included in this table. However, many households will not have passed their initial migration deadline and may still make a claim to UC. These households will be recorded in the ‘In Progress’ column.

Table 2: MNs sent by previous benefit claimed (July 2022 to May 2023)

Benefit	Migration Notices sent	of which reminders sent	Claims	of which claimed before deadline	of which awarded TP	In progress	Closed
All Benefits	22,190	14,820	7,800	7,500	4,930	13,210	1,190
DWP Benefits	570	410	540	490	230	..	30
Tax Credits Only	21,630	14,410	7,260	7,010	4,700	13,210	1,160

Between July 2022 and September 2022, Move to UC was in an extended ‘Discovery’ phase, building on learning from the ETS phase. No MNs were sent in October 2022. From November 2022 onwards, the programme entered its operational phase.

All households sent an MN have been included in this table. However, many households will not have passed their initial migration deadline and may still make a claim to UC. These households will be recorded in the ‘In Progress’ column.

Table 3: MNs sent by region (July 2022 to May 2023)

Region	Migration Notices sent	of which reminders sent	Claims	of which claimed before deadline	of which awarded TP	In progress	Closed
Great Britain	22,190	14,820	7,800	7,500	4,930	13,210	1,190
England	22,190	14,820	7,800	7,500	4,930	13,210	1,190
North East	180	130	140	120	100	..	40
North West	4,180	2,790	1,320	1,240	910	2,720	140
Yorkshire and The Humber	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
East Midlands	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
West Midlands	20	10	..	..	..	20	..
East of England	390	190	60	60	40	330	..
London	6,240	3,470	980	960	550	5,200	60
South East	850	650	710	630	420	10	130
South West	10,340	7,580	4,580	4,480	2,910	4,930	820
Wales	..	..	..	..	..	..	..
Scotland	..	..	..	..	..	..	..

All households sent an MN have been included in this table. However, many households will not have passed their initial migration deadline and may still make a claim to UC. These households will be recorded in the ‘In Progress’ column.

During the ETS phase, claimants in Medway and Bolton were sent MNs. Between July and September 2022, the service expanded to Cornwall (Falmouth and Truro), Northumberland (Berwick and Hexham), and London (Borough of Harrow). In February 2023, Move to UC extended to all areas within Cornwall.

Since April 2023, the expansion of Move to UC has brought in additional regions each month. DWP will be operating Move to UC activity in all regions/countries of Great Britain by September 2023 and expect to be undertaking Move to UC activity in all Jobcentre Plus districts by the end of the 2023 to 2024 financial year.

Region has been derived from households’ postcodes recorded on administrative systems, as described in the background information and methodology document.

Table 4: MNs sent by age (July 2022 to May 2023)

Age	Migration Notices sent	of which reminders sent	Claims	of which claimed before deadline	of which awarded TP	In progress	Closed
All Ages	22,190	14,820	7,800	7,500	4,930	13,210	1,190
20-24	20	10	10	10	..	10	..
25-29	390	210	180	160	100	180	20
30-34	1,640	1,080	640	600	420	920	80
35-39	3,170	2,120	1,080	1,040	680	1,950	130
40-49	8,970	6,050	3,270	3,160	2,100	5,310	380
50-59	6,680	4,460	2,200	2,120	1,380	4,020	460
60 and over	1,340	880	410	390	240	820	110

All households sent an MN have been included in this table. However, many households will not have passed their initial migration deadline and may still make a claim to UC. These households will be recorded in the ‘In Progress’ column.

Table 5: MNs sent by gender (July 2022 to May 2023)

Gender	Migration Notices sent	of which reminders sent	Claims	of which claimed before deadline	of which awarded TP	In progress	Closed
All Genders	22,190	14,820	7,800	7,500	4,930	13,210	1,190
Female	19,450	12,980	6,920	6,670	4,460	11,580	940
Male	2,750	1,850	880	830	470	1,620	240

All households sent an MN have been included in this table. However, many households will not have passed their initial migration deadline and may still make a claim to UC. These households will be recorded in the ‘In Progress’ column.

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 by email: ucad.briefinganalysis@dwp.gov.uk.

For media enquiries please contact the DWP press office.

Lead Statisticians: Ashley Buckner and Mike Payne

ISBN: 978-1-78659-536-2