Statistics released this week by the DWP show that 32% of all claimants sent a universal credit (UC) migration notice up to the end of February 2024 failed to make a successful claim and had their legacy benefits terminated.

In total, a shocking 284,660 individuals did not make a valid claim and had their benefits stopped.

The DWP are quick to point out that “households who have been sent a migration notice to date may not be representative of the complete population who will be sent a migration notice” because the majority are tax credit households.

The reality is, however, that the DWP have no idea whether the number of people who will disappear from the system when it is income-related ESA claimants who are being transferred, will be smaller or even greater.

The department have not done any detailed research into why so many claimants are failing to migrate and it may well be that ESA claimants will face even greater barriers to claiming than tax credit claimants.

At the moment, Labour have still made no announcement as to whether they are going to postpone or slow down the forced migration of income-related ESA claimants to UC, due to start next month.

But the closer we get to the deadline to begin sending out migration notices, the more likely it seems that the move is going ahead.

You can read the latest UC migration statistics here.

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    Is it not likely that the loss of 32% of claimants on transfer from tax credits to uc is possibly due to the different rules on savings. Under tax credit rules peoples savings were treated in the same way as the rest of society, ie they could have savings and only the taxable real interest on savings was taken into account as income above a £300 allowance. BUT ON UC benefit limits on savings apply, ie they maximum amount they could have in savings would now become £16000, plus any savings over £6000 would be taken into account at £1 for every £250 per week, as opposed to any real interest income they had on savings. People on tax credits may well have been low income earners who had been saving for that elusive deposit to buy a house, may have inherited money well below inheritance tax levels, but above £16000 allowed within benefit claimant rules. Effectively this is an inheritance tax on the poorest members of society. Any new low income earners would be unlikely to know things had been different under the old working tax credit rules and could not keep UC if their savings went over £16000. 
    Could the introduction of UC not have massively increased the difficulty low income families have had in raising a deposit to buy their own home as they cannot save over £16000 without losing their means tested benefit income??
    My view is that the new government should allow benefit claimants to be treated like the rest of society and be allowed to have savings as they were under working tax credit rules, and gain government income on the taxable interest?
    I also think the different earnings rules under UC as opposed to under working tax credits will have had a significant effect on the number of claimants lost on transfer ie under tax credits the earnings onthe previous year were used to assess entitlement and a limited increase in income within the year was allowed without loss of tax credit income, whereas under UC it is on a month by month basis, with an increase in one month very likely to mean a loss in the next, even if earnings dropped in the next month. This gives no encouragement to earn more in one month eg. to pay for bigger energy bills in the next. There is little scope for building up a rainy day pot to cover lifes many changes, which will and do occur. The transferring tax credit claimants may well have had fluctuating month by month earnings especially in an era of zero hours contracts, with their transfer period falling in a good earnings month taking them out of UC entitlement at that time??
    Again I would 



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      · 1 months ago
      @Jon Seriously?
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      · 1 months ago
      @Ellen Taylor Excellent response, well written and certainly bang on the mark so to say
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Ellen Taylor those with more than 16k in savings get transitional protection, so they can temporarily claim UC
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Ellen Taylor I thought the government did a test scanning disabled people's bank accounts and found a large number of claimants with 50 grand in there accounts
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 1 months ago
    I was migrated from WTC to UC and I was supposed to get the same amount. However I haven't got the same amount, I'm actually £500 worse off. I've appealed it and was told that it's correct. Nothing I can do, so skint, barely afford enough to eat and can't work anymore hours. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Jon How else will they save the 5 billion quid if it's not stolen from the sick and disabled??
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Suzanne That's a lot of money 💵 to lose so we could all end up worse off with transition to uc
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Suzanne The same thing has just happened to my sister💩😡

      I assume the computer system makes the calculation?
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    Just read an article in the Daily Record which states an announcement on the Governments plans for PIP is likely next month.
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      · 2 months ago
      @Matt There's a ministerial questions session to be held in parliament on 7th October. MPs are going to be questioning Liz Kendall on proposed welfare reforms.
      Let's hope she gives some answers.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Matt There is going to be a ministerial question session in Parliament on October 7th. MPs will be questioning Liz Kendall on any proposed welfare reforms. That's not to say she'll give any straight answers.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Anon Did it say exactly when?
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    · 2 months ago
    Of course they know how many of this winters migration to UC will fail. They've already put a figure on it for Gods sake - £5 billion. That cannot come through any fantasy savings in the process of administering UC, it's simply gained from people failing to, or knowing already and not bothering to, claim UC. ESA is based on individual need, as is PIP, UC is based on household need. If anyone is earning over the low UC ceiling, forget making a claim. 

  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    Question? These new pip and esa assesments starting in september? Are they for new claiments? Or are they goin to try and re asses 5 million people 😒😒😒😒
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Clive m stone There are not new assessments, there are new assessors - different firms doing assessments, for new claims and reviews.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @mrfibro Ian Duncan Smith did not roll out ESA, it was developed between 1998-2007 under the last Labour Government and implemented in 2008. It was Labour that also brought in the WCA bank for ESA.
      Ian Duncan Smith is the architect of UC, not ESA.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Clive m stone Dunno, but if they follow the path that IDS (Ian duncan smith)(secretary state for works & pension)took when he rolled out ESA 14 years ago.  The intention was to assess only new claimants.  But he decided to force all claimants to undertake WCA's ESA Assessments.  And the same was DLA to PIP.

      The rest is history.

      I can only imagine if this government wants to save money, then they will do anything possible to achieve that goal, no matter who suffers.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    Job Centre staff on strike.  

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    · 2 months ago
    I don’t understand why and how wide apart the differences are in how Scotlands’s welfare system works, where you are encouraged to make a claim if you are sick, unwell or disabled, a system based on compassion and trust, compared to england, a system based on fear, mistrust and suspicion,  a new “one size fits all” approach about to be implemented, and where the threat of having your income reduced or taken away is always there, this time it would seem, if you are not prepared or able to give anything of yourself in return for it.
    I fear that very shortly we will soon all be reading about a new round of suicides brought on by being forced into what we are incapable of, and in many instances, how we have ended up like this in the first place.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @(No) hope The government won't reduce your benefits they might freeze them though over the medium term
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    · 2 months ago
    Hi for some unknown reason you continue to block my relevant posts ?
    This Barnsley report I have got from DPAC Facebook page gives an indication of what this heinous government is going to implement.
    I have shared my serious concerns about you blocking posts to many disability groups 
    Please stop doing this 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @Harry It takes time for comments to show up. The post with your link is showing, just scroll down.
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      · 1 months ago
      @Neil David My friend who has schizophrenia applied for a job at burger king and got turned down
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      · 2 months ago
      @Jon Sadly Kendall is just the latest Duncan-smith, Coffey, Stride etc. They all know full well how far behind other country's the UK lags in terms of getting employers to be more disabled friendly, they simply don't care, 

      For politicians it's the perfect catch 22. They demand disabled people work, or else, but know full well that's not possible either because of their disability, or because businesses aren't prepared to make even the most modest adjustments. To quote Windsor Davies, the govts attitude is; 'oh dear, how sad, never mind'. 

      Employers calculate the cost of tribunal decisions against them v cost of 'reasonable adjustment'. For the overwhelming majority it's a risk they're willing to take. It will take a govt that actually cares about it's people to get the change we need. 

      Unfortunately I'll be long gone by the time that happens again. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Neil David Yes you are right about employers not being disabled friendly this is something Liz Kendall has got to rectify surely if employers are crying out for workers you would think they would give us a chance
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Jon Try telling the homeless with mental health issues that. Or the thousands now reliant on charity, food banks etc. As long ago as the Major era it was shown just how easy it is to slip through the cracks and end up on the street. Tbh, once my ESA ends, I'm reliant on the goodwill of the missus. In our situation, that might not last very long - and I have nowhere else to go.

      As for 'wanting to work', yeah, so would I, and thousands of others. However, contrary to govt propaganda, the fact there is plenty of work doesn't mean your skill set fits, literally, any job available. Covid culled a lot of expert posts, and outward migration has created the bulk of the rest. 

      The barriers to work for the disabled are also considerable. The govt trumpeted its 'new disability friendly' list of employers last year, but it consisted entirely of the previous schemes members. Worse, these ran to a massive '300' out of tens of thousands of UK businesses. Of these not all of them were mental health friendly. So, big whoop. As for ehrc protection, forget it. You may well be protected  'before, during, and after employment' but employers easily get around it. 

      How do I know? My last job was in HR. 

      We need root and branch improvement in govt and LA services for the disabled, an enforced change in DWP attitude and legislation with regards the disabled, and employers told they 'must', no excuses, make changes to allow disabled people thrive in the work place. 

      I can see all that happening right about the time I see a certain mythical character on skates...
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    om DPAC Facebook page you can download the pdf document(please see link below)

    Sadly it's a scary read however it does enable you to see what this heinous government intends to do 




    https://www.barnsley.gov.uk/services/our-council/barnsley-2030/pathways-to-work-commission/



    For those on Facebook just scroll down to Barnsley report



    https://www.facebook.com/disabledpeopleagainstcuts

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      · 2 months ago
      @Harry 'would like too"  "want to" these statements suggest voluntary participation.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    From DPAC Facebook page you can download the 3 pdf documents (please see link below)
    Sadly it's a scary read however it does enable you to see what this heinous government intends to do 





    For those on Facebook just scroll down to Barnsley report


    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Harry That explains the picture from earlier in the summer when Liz Kendall was ass kissing alan milburn, having gone over their vision for a new, brighter Britain. Fantasy land if ever I’ve read. Patronising and insulting and with not much regard to our own personal illnesses, and the depths of them that we feel and face. Only an ignorant well person would suggest that employment is the solve-all,  where obviously our own consultants and doctors have failed. It’s nothing new, just more one sided, one dimensional rhetoric. Were any REAL disabled people or charities involved in it?
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    I don't think we have anything to worry about because once most of the people on this site attend the job centre they will soon realise that they are incapable of work even with work place adaptations.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Old Mother True I don't know why more disabled aren't hired
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Nightcity Don't worry I will be joining them at the job centre that's bureaucracy for you 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Old Mother Yes where are these so-called extra millions of jobs?

      It's all a load of Boll**s all they are trying to do is force people of their benefits to save a few bob.  And to cook the books to make it look like the economy is growing.

      I mean the British public must be so thick not to see through all of this.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Jon Point is - where are the jobs ?  People with disabilities are unlikely to be favoured by employers. 

      It’s all just performative to justify benefit cuts. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Jon Why should they have to go through that ordeal in the first place?.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    Can anyone tell me what how to idenitify if you are in new style employment and support allowance (C)

    as the DWP move to universal credit website, it says If you only receive new style benefits, either New Style Employment and Support Allowance (ESA (C) or New Style Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA (C), then you will not be asked to move to Universal Credit.

    thanks
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @mbcomper Thanks that has reassured me 
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      · 1 months ago
      @HRH I would like to know this also .Thanks for raising .

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      · 1 months ago
      @mbcomper Hello I was wondering this, after 44 odd years of working whether I would be asked to change this status?
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 months ago
      @HRH Check your original award letter for ESA for clarification. New Style ESA is for people who are unable to work due to illness but had paid enough National Insurance contributions aka contribution based ESA.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    Any positive news out there ??
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      · 2 months ago
      @mrfibro Mr fibro at worst you might have your benefits frozen and be asked to attend the job centre on one occasion so they can assess you there not going to leave you destitute your retiring in eight months anyway
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @chenners in short NO.  There's not going to be any positiveness about this at all.  As starmer has said, the Oct budget is going to be brutal or words to that effect.  And the brunt force of that brutality will be forced on claimants.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    Just seen Starmer's comments regarding the forthcoming Budget. Well, we were warned....any idea when this White Paper of Kendall's is going to be published?
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    · 2 months ago
    Apologies if already posted.

    Single assessment for all benefits. 

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      · 2 months ago
      @CaroA Hi Benefits and Work unfortunately info from chat gbt changes from day to day yesterday it said that there are some trials going on with these assessments being merged including data.  I think it said that these were in Birmingham and London with the aim to spread it across the country by 2029.  It's hard to know quite what's going on.  I'm not sure if you B&W know any more?
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      · 2 months ago
      @Bud Hi I've been doing some research as this worried me too but this is what chat gbt has told me....
      I hope it is correct. 

      'It’s understandable to feel concerned, but it’s important to clarify that there is no plan to combine PIP and Work Capability Assessments (WCA) into a single assessment starting this September. The current changes involve having the same company conduct both types of assessments in certain areas, but PIP and WCA will remain separate assessments with different criteria and purposes. The data from these assessments will not be automatically shared or merged. If you’re worried about these changes, rest assured that for now, PIP and WCA are still distinct, and you should continue to prepare for each assessment as before.'
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Matt 🙏
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      · 2 months ago
      @Matt No. The article comes from Manchester Evening News. 

      However, it's all about recycled reports, and the only reference it's citing is this same forum that we're reading  (Benefits & Work), saying:

      "The Benefits and Work forum has revealed that, during last year's contract bidding for regional assessments, the DWP confirmed that these contracts would be active from 2024 to 2029. However, the government is set to take a new approach, with a single assessment for all benefits."
       
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @HRH The article came from the Daily Record (Scotland) who have devolved powers in regards to benefits. I think the article was referring to Scotland only.
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    · 2 months ago
    My wife contacted our own recently elected labour mp about one month ago, regarding the proposed welfare reforms, and how we are likely to be affected and  our reservations about them  that are shared by all disabled and chronically sick persons out there that rely on this financial support.  No response. Sent a reminder yesterday to her reaching out again after not hearing from her in response to these serious concerns that threaten life….
    I think all mp’s have been told to not leak anything ahead of the big reveal in September or October, when they are probably hoping to bury it in amongst maybe another royal scandal or some new uk natural disaster like some more flooding or some other catastrophic event.
    Disgustingly predictable.
    If anyone has had a response from their mp regarding these proposed reforms, please share.

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      · 2 months ago
      @Jon I don’t think there is any such thing…. Honourable politician that is
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @(No) hope Keir starmer seems an honourable man he said country first and it was all about service
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @(No) hope You hit the nail on the head.  
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @SC Thank you SC, you are absolutely right about this self-serving lot who will tell you anything in order to get a foot in the door, then go into hiding when the s*** is about to hit the fan, as it would seem my own mp has done.
      Starmer has said he requires two terms in power so he can have enough time to accumulate personal wealth beyond his wildest dreams….sorry, I mean to put the country back together and fix all its problems 😭
      It looks as if fairness and prosperity for all will remain the stuff of our fantasies, just like Liz Kendall’s cheese dream of a fantasy to get every disabled person engaging, and then ultimately into a job. Laughable were it not so serious that real people’s lives are about to be seriously jeopardised in the coming weeks.  I hope some big personalities in their own party call them out over their reforms in the next few weeks, or will that only happen depending on how big the backlash is?
      Have a great day and best wishes to you also.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @(No) hope To (No) Hope , again eloquence of speech , not a tirade , but the " honest truth ", of these arrogant, ignorant , greedy politicians , they want your vote , then with your vote do anything they like when in power !! I stand by this statement ( have always said it ) * keir starmer only wants the priministerial every year for life , * just tony blair mark 2
      Very best wishes to you sir and your good lady 
      From SC 
      P.S. be well my friend and keep your powder dry !!
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    At the end of the day the DWP won't leave us with nothing will they?
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    · 2 months ago
    Another fiasco in the making and as per we are on the pointy end of it.
    I'm trying to keep a level head about it all,which is almost impossible. I've sleepless nights, I wake up numerous times with all of it swimming through my head. It never leaves my thoughts 
    How does any of this worry help us. 
    They really do have us over a barrel 
    I pray the disability charities are fully on the ball with this one. 
    When you see what they can do with innocent pensioners ,some just slightly above the threshold to claim pension credit,so will miss out on winter fuel payment, what won't they do.
    I don't know where this will all end ,none of us do yet. 
    But we can't keep being blamed for every ill  in society and made examples of time and time again.
    I'm afraid it's more breath holding.
    Best of luck to us all. 🤞
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    An interesting fact from the Guardian: there are 991,000 people over the age of 60 who are self-employed. As most employers do not want to employ disabled people, self-employment is going to be pushed heavily towards disabled people on the basis you can work from home.

    Nothing has much changed since the 1980's when I was at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford. Those who gained employment were overwhelmingly in the public sector (secretarial work which has virtually disappeared) or large private sector companies, eh Barclays Bank.

    Where I work, automation is coming for a lot of the admin function. I do not fancy having to 'engage' with the job centre in my late 50's. 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 2 months ago
    It would be easy to panic about all the guesswork surrounding the possible reforms; but I'm going to just use a wait and see approach to it all.

    I myself have chronic anxiety, depression, paranoia and OCD and very rarely go out and slipping into despair over stress has always been so easy, but not this time.

    I plan to stay calm, stay rational and keep busy.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 2 months ago
      @Anon Thankyou for those level headed words,I really needed to hear that as I'd started to spiral and believed this morning ( Tuesday 27th aug)that I was heading towards another nervous breakdown over the stress of all this,I need to calm down and try put it out of my head

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