Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, If she will publish the key performance indicators her Department will use to monitor the performance of the Universal Credit Managed Migration programme.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
Formal performance monitoring is not appropriate to a discovery phase where the aim is to learn what works best, rather than achieve a specific volume of cases.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when she expects (a) 10,000, (b) 100,000, (c) 250,000, (d) 500,000 and (e) 1,000,000 legacy benefit claimants to have been issued with a migration notice to move to Universal Credit.
Answered by Baroness Prentis of Banbury
In May 2022 we started a multi-location approach across the country with a small number of claimants, being issued with migration notices. We will continue to develop our processes and systems to ensure the transition to Universal Credit works as smoothly as possible before we proceed to scale the migration process. Government is committed to ensuring the final phase of Universal Credit is rolled out safely and is responsibly delivered by the end of 2024.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people in receipt of universal credit will have access to short courses of between six weeks to a year in areas where there are skills gaps, starting from September 2022.
Answered by Mims Davies - Shadow Minister (Women)
Universal Credit (UC) does not duplicate the financial support provided by the student loan system. This system of student loans and grants are designed to meet their needs.
Where learning meets the work-related requirements, as described in their claimant commitment, UC claimants can participate in learning opportunities designed to improve their prospects of securing work and progressing.
Using existing flexibilities within UC, DWP’s Train and Progress (TaP) initiative expands claimants’ access to training, including new offers under the Lifetime Skills Guarantee, for example, being able to undertake Skills Bootcamps, ensuring they gain new skills and access better employment opportunities. DWP TaP better aligns the employment and skills support offer and increases the amount of time UC claimants can take part in suitable full-time training. Claimants could take up to 12 weeks for work-related course and up to 16 weeks in areas where Skills Bootcamps exist.
Asked by: Peter Aldous (Conservative - Waveney)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
When her Department will bring forward legislative proposals to introduce a 12 month eligibility definition for the Special Rules for Terminal Illness.
Answered by Chloe Smith
The Department plans to implement the 12-month end-of-life approach across five DWP benefits, beginning in Universal Credit alongside Employment and Support Allowance next year. This will be followed by Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance and Personal Independence Payment subject to Parliamentary processes.