Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will clarify whether people in receipt of legacy benefits who are migrated to Universal Credit through the managed migration process will be treated as new claimants for the purposes of the health-related element changes proposed in the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.

The Department plans to complete migration of ESA claimants to UC by March 2026. As part of this ESA claimants will be migrated to the UC Health Element. To protect any claimants who have not migrated by April 2026 we intend to mirror as closely as possible the changes made in UC in the ESA rates. Changes to the “support component” and the two disability premia (severe and enhanced disability premium rates) will reflect changes to UC LCWRA rates for existing claimants. Including these commensurate measures aims to give fair treatment for all customers moving onto UC from income related ESA, regardless of their point of migration.