Universal Credit
(asked on 3rd February 2015) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Impact Assessment for the Welfare Reform Act 2012, whether his estimate of the number of people who will have higher entitlement as a result of universal credit in each of the next five years is the same as that in that Assessment.
The Impact assessment for the Welfare Reform Act 2012 does not contain estimates over the next 5 years. The Impact Assessment estimates are based on analysis of the steady-state when universal credit is fully rolled out. Updated versions of the IA estimates are in the below table:
Reference | Answer |
223271 | The department estimates the number of people who will have a higher entitlement as a result of Universal Credit is 3.2million. |
223272 | Transitional protection will ensure that no households see a cash reduction at the point they are actively moved to Universal Credit from legacy benefits or tax credits. In the long-run the department estimates that around 3m households have a notionally lower entitlement under Universal Credit. |
223273 | Universal Credit represents a fundamental transformation of the working age welfare system. Changes to the structure of entitlements, including an additional £350m investment in childcare, along with higher take-up of those entitlements, will increase payments to low income households by around £2bn per annum in steady-state. Universal Credit will also design some elements of fraud, error and overpayments out of the system together with more responsiveness to changes in earnings producing a net saving to the taxpayer of £0.6bn per annum in steady-state. In addition, the department expects savings to the taxpayer beyond the £0.6bn per annum in steady-state as a result of behavioural changes, additional employment, and wider economic benefits. |
223274 | See answer to 223273 |
Note – Figures are given in 2014/15 prices