UC by 2024

andrewmp

NedS said:

JonVarnas said:

I think the governments plan to shed 90,000 civil service jobs will put the kaibosh on the 2024 target. All those thousands of Work Coaches the DWP hired over the last couple of years will surely be in the firing line.

Those jobs will not be lost overnight, but are rather proposed cuts over 3 years, so may occur near or after managed migration is finished (...says laughing optimistically!!) Further, it is not clear what proportion of cuts would happen from within DWP, and in which roles. Even so, DWP looks well staffed at present given how tight the labour market currently is, so unless a recession triggers a large increase in unemployment (very possible), there is no reason to think the 2024 target is unachievable. Universal Credit Live Service migration happened fairly smoothly once they actually got on with it. They need to stop messing about in small trial areas and start rolling it out nationally by September.

You would think HMRC would need a few less staff once they no longer have to deal with tax credit administration.

Spoonie_Turtle

andrewmp said:

NedS said:

JonVarnas said:

I think the governments plan to shed 90,000 civil service jobs will put the kaibosh on the 2024 target. All those thousands of Work Coaches the DWP hired over the last couple of years will surely be in the firing line.

Those jobs will not be lost overnight, but are rather proposed cuts over 3 years, so may occur near or after managed migration is finished (...says laughing optimistically!!) Further, it is not clear what proportion of cuts would happen from within DWP, and in which roles. Even so, DWP looks well staffed at present given how tight the labour market currently is, so unless a recession triggers a large increase in unemployment (very possible), there is no reason to think the 2024 target is unachievable. Universal Credit Live Service migration happened fairly smoothly once they actually got on with it. They need to stop messing about in small trial areas and start rolling it out nationally by September.

You would think HMRC would need a few less staff once they no longer have to deal with tax credit administration.

Don't give them ideas!  By all reports it's long been virtually impossible to get through to HMRC on the phone as it is!

vulcan1964

So just to run this past you all, the move to transitional UC will mean that most people will lose money ( not at the date of transition but at the date of benefits increase in April, and for years )

from turnto us

Jane and Dave currently receive £1,100 per month from the benefits to be replaced by Universal Credit but their Universal Credit entitlement is only £1,000 per month.

They are part of the managed migration onto Universal Credit, so they receive a transitional protection amount of £100 per month to top up their Universal Credit so they are not worse off.

The following April the Universal Credit rates are increased so their Universal Credit entitlement goes up to £1,020 per month.

They only need a transitional protection amount of £80 now to top them up to their previous benefit income of £1,100 per month.

Although their Universal Credit entitlement has gone up £20, their transitional protection amount is reduced by £20 so they still receive £1,100 per month.

They won't see a rise in their income from Universal Credit until their Universal Credit entitlement becomes more than £1,100 per month and their transitional protection amount reduces to nothing.

So I read that you will not have, after transition to UC, any inflation rises for years until your transitional payment equals the non transitional UC payment.

or am I just a muppet and reading this wrong?

calcotti

vulcan1964 said:

So just to run this past you all, the move to transitional UC will mean that most people will lose money ( not at the date of transition but at the date of benefits increase in April, and for years )

Not necessarily most people but a significant number. Many people will be entitled to more on UC than on their existing benefits.

vulcan1964 said: So I read that you will not have, after transition to UC, any inflation rises for years until your transitional payment equals the non transitional UC payment.

For those who get transitional protection, that is correct. It is exactly how transitional protection for those moved from IB to ESA worked. 

andrewmp

The transitional protection is designed to erode over time, with inflation.  I don't have a problem with that, it seems a somewhat fair approach 

NedS

andrewmp said:

The transitional protection is designed to erode over time, with inflation.  I don't have a problem with that, it seems a somewhat fair approach 

And with inflation predicted to be close to 10% this September, and form the basis of any rise next April, you'd think DWP would have some urgency to push ahead with managed migration to allow that high inflation to start eroding transitional protection as quickly as possible.

Robbie64

calcotti said:

vulcan1964 said: So I read that you will not have, after transition to UC, any inflation rises for years until your transitional payment equals the non transitional UC payment.

For those who get transitional protection, that is correct. It is exactly how transitional protection for those moved from IB to ESA worked. 

And prior to that, the same happened when Incapacity Benefit replaced Invalidity Benefit in 1995 and even further back, when Income Support replaced Supplementary Benefit in 1988.

atlantis187

How long will transitional protection last?
Or is it till the UC payments reach to the level of your previous legacy benefits?

calcotti

atlantis187 said:

How long will transitional protection last?
Or is it till the UC payments reach to the level of your previous legacy benefits?

There is no fixed period. Your transitional element is reduced each time one of the other elements increases or a new element is added until such time as the transitional element has disappeared. Some changes, such as if you change from a single to a couple claim, remove the transitional element completely.

atlantis187

If someone has savings over 16k at the point of migration from tax credits will they get transitional protection and how long will this last for if no other changes get made to the UC claim for several years after?