Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to support unpaid carers applying for Universal Credit on behalf of people with complex disabilities undergoing the process of managed migration.

We recently restarted work to design and deliver a service for people to move to Universal Credit. We are currently taking forward a discovery phase focussing on controlled, small volumes. During this phase we will seek to understand how best to support claimants when making their claim to Universal Credit, including where claimants receive additional support from people who are not their appointees to make their claim.

A variety of support is in place for those issued with migration notices, including for individuals with health conditions and disabilities. Our current support consists of:

• A dedicated phoneline.
• Further guidance on website Welcome to GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• Specially trained staff in JCP’s and service centres who can identify local tailored support; and
• Support through the Help to Claim