Fifth of households on legacy benefits ‘did not switch to Universal Credit’

A fifth of households claiming older benefits have had them stopped after failing to switch to Universal Credit, a report has found.

The National Audit Office (NAO) called on the UK government to ensure people are getting the benefits they are entitled to as the process of moving people off so-called legacy benefits continues.

The process, known as managed migration, is aimed to be completed by March 2025.

It was announced in 2010 as a plan to reform the welfare system by introducing Universal Credit (UC) as an integrated benefit.

As of March last year, the NAO said some 2.2 million households were still receiving legacy benefits – such as working tax credit, child tax credit, housing benefit, income support, income-based jobseeker's allowance, and incomerelated employment and support allowance (ESA).

By December, there were 6.3 million people claiming UC across Great Britain, the report said.

But it warned that 21 per cent of households claiming legacy benefits have not transferred to UC after receiving a notice to switch, and have had these older benefits stopped.

Almost all of these households had been receiving tax credits, the report said.

The migration is taking at least six years longer than originally planned to complete and costing £900 million more than first predicted, the report said.

It also noted that HM Revenue and Customs has estimated that 80 per cent of tax credit claimants will move to UC with outstanding debt and that the DWP has said it will deduct an amount from someone's benefit until the debt has been recovered.

Helen Barnard, director of policy at the Trussell Trust food bank network, said the one in five figure is "concerning" as these people are "in danger of falling out of the system altogether".

She said: "The spring budget is an opportunity for the Chancellor to right some of the wrongs faced by millions in the UK.

"Unless he takes action, Universal Credit will continue to cause hunger, drive up debt, and force people to the doors of food banks."