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UC Go-Live dates
in operational stakeholders today we had an update on the current plan for rollout of UC…
From May 2016 the digital service will begin to rollout and will go to 5 jobcentre areas per month (this will be the whole jobcentre area not part postcodes as currently). Therefore in those areas there will be no new claims for legacy benefits as there are no gateway conditions in the digital service.
Additionally, once the digital service is within a jobcentre area any claims for UC on the live system in that area will have to transfer to the digital system - this will have to be done by the claimant making a new claim!! DWP are going to test out how this will work in a jobcentre at the end of January 2016 - we should get further feedback on this in due course.
From some date in 2017 the digital rollout will accelerate to 50 jobcentre areas per month. And then from 2018 the migration of people on legacy benefits over to UC will start with a projected finish date of 2020/2021.
Apparently today is the first day the 2021 finish date has been said in public!
Not quite sure I have got this. My understanding was that those areas already operating (non digital) UC would be the last to go digital? Maybe I misunderstood ?
By end Feb 2016 the current live service will be in all jobcentres. So it is after that in May 2016 that the digital service beings to roll out replacing the live service in 5 jobcentres a month. There was no indication whether it would be ones who had only recently gone live or ones who had been live for some time.
New statutory instrument provides for Digital Service to be extended to claimants in postcode part-districts SM5 1, SM5 3, SM5 9, SM6 0 and SM6 6 from 2 December 2015 -
The new areas now are on the maps here…
https://www.lgbp3.co.uk/ucpc/ucpcdec15.html (UC by Dec 15)
and
https://www.lgbp3.co.uk/ucpc/ucpc.html (UC by Apr 16)
As far as I can see the new sectors (excluding the two which seem to be non residential) have a population of about 30,000 people bringing the total population covered by the digital service trial to around 120,000 (that’s general population, not claimants) - so around 1/3 of LB Sutton is now covered together with about 1/12 of LB Croydon and 1/25 of LB Southwark.
[ Edited: 24 Nov 2015 at 04:45 pm by Jon Blackwell ]
18 more jobcentres taking single person claims from today -
Billingham | Cannock | Coventry Tile Hill | Coventry Cofa Court | Dinnington | Easton (Bristol) | Horfield (Bristol) | Hythe (Hampshire) | Lymington | Maltby | Newport (Isle of Wight) | Norwich | Ringwood | Rotherham | Ryde | Shirehampton (Bristol) | Stockton | Thornaby
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/universal-credit-now-in-almost-550-jobcentres
Iain Duncan Smith has announced that digital service will be extended to Hounslow, Musselburgh, Purley, Thornton Heath and Great Yarmouth ahead of national roll-out from May 2016 -
Universal credit for single jobseekers extended to four more jobcentres from today -
Brighton | Hove | Kirkintilloch | Peterborough
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/universal-credit-now-in-three-quarters-of-all-jobcentres
[ Edited: 14 Dec 2015 at 10:40 am by Ros ]No DWP press release, but universal credit rolled out today to Kingswood and Yate, both in South Gloucestershire
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/jobcentres-where-you-can-claim-universal-credit
To be followed later this month ....
- on 18 January by: Bromley | Croydon | East Riding of Yorkshire | Greenwich | Merton | Sheffield | Sutton.
- on 25 January by : Blaby | Canterbury | Dartford | Derby | Dover | Leicester | Oadby and Wigston | Plymouth | Shepway | Torbay | West Devon.
http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/news/item/uc-roll-out
Out today…
The Welfare Reform Act 2012 (Commencement No. 26 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions and Commencement No. 22, 23 and 24 and Transitional and Transitory Provisions (Modification)) Order 2016
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/33/contents/made
... it looks like these expand the digital service (between 27 Jan and 7 Mar) to the Hounslow, Purley, Thornton Heath and Great Yarmouth JC Areas ( and expand the coverage for Sutton, Croydon and London Bridge JCs) and, of these, the areas which are not let ‘live’ will be ‘digital’ from the start.
The main LAs affected are Gt Yarmouth BC, Hounslow, LB Croydon, LB Sutton and LB Southwark but some parts surrounding boroughs and districts are also included.
I think Musselburgh was mentioned as another early digital area but I don’t think it’s covered by this.
There are now seven pages of notes as to earlier commencement orders .. is that a record?
[ Edited: 15 Jan 2016 at 12:35 pm by Jon Blackwell ]
Details of relevant postcodes now up in news summary - http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/news/item/further-roll-out-of-the-universal-credit-digital-service
It looks like some postcodes have been taken out of the planned roll-out into the live service but with no dates for going into the digital service - I’m guessing dates will be forthcoming for those areas?
Welcome any comments on whether I’ve interpreted it all correctly Jon - or others?
[ Edited: 15 Jan 2016 at 05:25 pm by shawn mach ]I think it works like this:-
Parts 1-2 : Start date brought forward and will be starting as digital instead of ‘live’.
Parts 3-4 : Already in ‘live’ service - switching to digital.
Parts 5-7 : Keep original start date but will be starting as digital instead of ‘live’.
So Purley/South Croydon and Great Yarmouth (parts 5-7 formerly parts of 67,71 and 74 relevant districts) will start as expected on 18 Jan/15 Feb and 7 March but their commencement orders are modified so that the gateway conditions no longer apply.
I’ve added the new digital areas here
I agree completely on Parts 1-4 postcodes Jon.
However, I’d only picked up that the Parts 5-7 postcodes were no longer going into the live service - I have amended the news story to include that they go into the digital service on those dates - thanks very much for your help
14 new areas from today for single jobseekers:
Goole | Bridlington | Beverley | Hessle | Sheffield Bailey Court | Sheffield Cavendish Court | Sheffield Chambers Court (Chapeltown) | Sheffield Eastern Avenue | Sheffield Hillsborough | Sheffield Woodhouse | Eltham | Woolwich | Mitcham | Bromley
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/you-can-now-claim-universal-credit-at-80-of-all-jobcentres
I agree completely on Parts 1-4 postcodes Jon.
However, I’d only picked up that the Parts 5-7 postcodes were no longer going into the live service - I have amended the news story to include that they go into the digital service on those dates - thanks very much for your help
Sorry, Daphne - looking at it again I think you were right first time and I’ve got it wrong - as far as I can see article 8(3) completely removes the relevant commencement provisions in the No 24 order (not just the gateway conditions attached to them ) so there is no day appointed for the coming into force of the UC provisions ( Schedule 2 to the No. 9 Order) listed in the postcodes in parts 5-7 so there isn’t a start date for those.
Anyone else have an opinion? Has anyone in Purley/ Thornton Heath / Great Yarmouth heard anything about their digital start dates?