Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department offers additional support to people with complex disabilities through the migration process to Universal Credit.

We recently restarted work to design and deliver a service for claimants to move to Universal Credit. The first phase is Discovery with controlled small volumes; during this phase we will work with small numbers of claimants to learn how best to ensure a smooth transition to Universal Credit and identify what support claimants need to make their claim to Universal Credit.

A variety of support is currently 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 Welcome to GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• Specially trained staff in JCP’s and service centres who can identify local tailored support; and
• Independent support through the Help to Claim service.

As we progress through the discovery phase, we are keen to understand what additional support is required for people to make their claim to Universal Credit. The Department also holds regular engagement sessions with a broad range of external stakeholders, including in the health and disability sector in order to seek their feedback and input into the process.