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DWP to ‘discuss the benefits of UC’ with claimants in trial of voluntary managed migration
Written answer from Baroness Buscombe yesterday on the testing of a non-mandatory approach in managed migration pilot -
Several of our stakeholders have encouraged us to consider a voluntary approach to migrating claimants onto Universal Credit in the first instance, and we are committed to trialling this in the pilot, along with other approaches. This non-mandatory approach would involve engagement with claimants to discuss the benefits of Universal Credit for them. Claimants who chose not to voluntarily move onto Universal Credit as part of this initial piloting approach will remain on their existing benefit during the piloting processes.
I think that’s a barely concealed admission that they won’t be migrating any complex cases during the trial.
Even if they do migrate complex cases, it seems it will be with people who engage with the DWP and willingly agree to migrate. I can’t help thinking this sounds like a vetting exercise - it gives them a chance to put people off if they look like they’re going to make the migration process (or UC generally) look bad.
It says they will be using this along with other approaches. So some people will get to choose, and others won’t. I wonder how they’ll decide who gets to choose?
I think that’s a barely concealed admission that they won’t be migrating any complex cases during the trial.
Spoke to officials at a managed migration event last week and they said they’re definitely wanting to include some of the more difficult and complex claimants in the pilot to try to understand their particular issues.
How and whether that happens in practice, we’ll have to wait and see but I didn’t get the impression that this was any kind of window washing as such.
I think that’s a barely concealed admission that they won’t be migrating any complex cases during the trial.
Spoke to officials at a managed migration event last week and they said they’re definitely wanting to include some of the more difficult and complex claimants in the pilot to try to understand their particular issues.
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It’s a shame that they’ve told us we won’t see any of the trial; I’d love to watch some of mine going through the process…
Did you get any inkling of what the reported outcomes mght be?
It’s a shame that they’ve told us we won’t see any of the trial; I’d love to watch some of mine going through the process…
Did you get any inkling of what the reported outcomes mght be?
Not really Dan, they’re more at the exploratory stage of trying to understand the multiplicity of challenges ahead. Although, there was a mild sense of dread that success will be seen simply through the prism of getting people off legacy benefits and onto the UC system and not much more i.e. on-going claim maintenance, meeting conditionality etc
If they want to understand the challenges, instead of unleashing UC on real people with complex problems DWP could come to advisers and ask for (anonymised) case studies of claimants whose known situations would present an enormous barrier to claiming under their proposed system, including those who will need open-ended support. We will all be able to produce multiple examples.
They could also address the already-large (at this office anyway) list of complex needs cases where the claimant has been shoved on to UC and left without adequate support, and where communications from advisers have been ignored, needs not met and the DWP’s obsession with explicit consent and GDPR has driven events. I have some complaints that are way past their first birthday, still not resolved.
I also think they should not even lift a finger on migration without talking to social care staff. There is no sign of this, as far as I know. Who better to put them in the picture about people who will be left out by the current plans?
I am also concerned that the discussion of the merits of a UC claim will not be a balanced one in terms of who holds the power, to put it delicately,and, however inadvertently, some people will be persuaded to claim UC when it is not a good idea for them.
One ‘hidden’ element that will never get mentioned is the potential for swingeing deductions for all sorts of advances and debts - including ‘undead’ debts from years back - which could devastate even those who would be , on paper, better off on UC.
The constant cases of people with LCW/LCWRA being told to get a job, or to produce fit notes and re-start the WCA should also be addressed before any more people are moved to UC.
Minutes from SSAC January meeting include DWP’s responses on non-mandatory migration during pilot and use of automatic extension of deadline day in initial stages (paras 2.4.1(f) and (i)).