Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of Universal Credit starts in each of the last 5 years were (a) new benefit claimants and (b) claimants transitioning from legacy benefits through managed migration.

This information is not readily available. However, as detailed in the DWP Statistical Work Programme and the Universal Credit statistics release strategy, the Department is developing a method to denote UC claimants given a migration notice from the Move to Universal Credit programme, and updates on this will be shared in the DWP Statistical Work Programme.

As we continue the Move to Universal Credit (UC) programme, the department is moving people from legacy benefits to UC, leading to an expected rise in the UC caseload.

Latest Official Statistics show that, up to end of September 2025, almost 1.9 million individuals have made a claim to UC following receipt of a migration notice.