Universal Credit

This call for ideas seeks views on how DWP can support people in work and in receipt of Universal Credit to help them increase their earnings, develop their skills and qualifications, and achieve financial independence. It also seeks views on how DWP could trial ideas that would support employers to promote training, development and progression opportunities for low paid employees who are claiming Universal Credit or tax credits, and have the potential to work more.

Responses should be submitted by 25 March to uc [dot] newapproaches [at] dwp [dot] gsi [dot] gov [dot] uk

The Government has published an inpact assessment for the introduction of Universal Credit. Ministers have confirmed the final elements of Universal Credit, and say that 3 million families will be better off under the new system by around £168 a month. The majority of these - 75% - will come from the bottom two fifths of the income scale.

The disregards and work allowances for Universal Credit will be more generous than the existing system. Some of the changes within the Universal Credit regulations include:

The Work and Pensions Committee has published its report on Universal Credit. "Universal Credit implementation: meeting the needs of vulnerable claimants" concludes that the Government has designed a welfare system which should help ease the transition from benefits to work, but warns that significant concerns remain about the potential impact of the changes on some of the most vulnerable benefit claimants. It urges the Government to reflect on its ambitious implementation timetable.

Commenting on the publication of the report, Dame Anne Begg MP, said:

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.

DWP has published a research report that looks at attitudes to welfare reform and Universal Credit. It is the first in a series of research commissioned to inform the design and delivery of universal credit by exploring the views of claimants, staff, employers and the wider public.