Universal Credit to trial in Manchester and Cheshire areas

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has announced that Universal Credit will go live in the Greater Manchester and Cheshire region in April 2013 – six months before the national roll-out.

The early roll out of the Government’s new benefit system is expected to see up to 1500 new Universal Credit claimants coming on stream across four areas – Tameside, Oldham, Wigan and Warrington - each month. It will test the new single benefit payment system with local authorities, employers and claimants in a live environment before Universal Credit is rolled out across the country in October 2013.

Universal Credit will be introduced across Britain, starting on a small scale in every region from October 2013 and building up capacity to April 2014, when all new claims to the current benefits and credits will be entirely phased out.

People who have recently lost their jobs and are closest to the labour market will be the first to make a claim for Universal Credit, with the majority making claims online rather than by telephone or face to face.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/press-releases/2012/may-2012/dwp057-12.shtml