DWP issues major update on plan to axe six benefits claimed by millions
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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has shared an update on its plan to axe six "legacy" benefits. Currently, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is working to move people claiming older "legacy benefits" onto Universal Credit through a process called Managed Migration. The benefits affected by the change include:.
The DWP has been phasing out the legacy benefits for a few years and restarted the move again last year after briefly pausing during the Coronavirus pandemic. At the time of the managed migration restarting, around 2.6million people were still claiming old-style legacy benefits in the UK.
The plan consists of the benefits department sending letters - known as Migration Notices - to people claiming the different benefits and this has been done in phases. In September, letters started to be sent to people claiming JSA and ESA. In an update on the plan - published to the House of Commons library this week - the DWP gave a date for when all legacy benefits would end. The DWP aims to have moved all claimants onto Universal Credit by March 2026, with the final notices being sent to all those claiming ESA by the end of December next year.
The document read: "The DWP plans to move all legacy benefit claimants to UC by March 2026, completing the UC rollout and closing all legacy benefits by this date.". Earlier this year, the DWP confirmed that Tax Credits would be ending much sooner in April 2025. The majority of those claiming Tax Credits have been sent migration notices, and next year they will not be able to renew their Tax Credit claims.
