DWP pushes ahead with Tory Universal Credit move as Labour keeps £5 billion saving plan

The new Labour Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) under Liz Kendall MP appears to be pushing ahead with a Conservative-era shake-up of the Universal Credit migration system, which is set to save the government around £5 billion in benefit payments. The policy is set to take effect this month, with thousands of legacy benefit claimants due a letter in the post.

People who receive income-related Employment Support Allowance (ESA) will start receiving a "migration notice" from this month, four years ahead of schedule, in a move which could save the cash-strapped Labour government a large chunk of its £22 billion financial "blackhole". This notice will inform claimants that their ESA will end, unless they migrate over to the Universal Credit system.

Roughly 1.6 million people still receive essential cash help through this benefit, but many thousands of claimants have failed to make the migration. This has prompted organisations like Citizens Advice to warn that income-related ESA claimants are a "potentially highly vulnerable group", and that the DWP should implement better safeguards before rolling out the new system.

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The Benefits and Work forum reports that "Labour is not listening" over these concerns and is steaming ahead with the cost-saving move, which will see all ESA claimants receive a migration notice by December 2025. The forum cited the DWP's internal September newsletter as stating that a “correct level of support is in place to safely move customers over to UC”.

Once you receive a migration notice from the DWP, you will have three months to make a claim for Universal Credit or your benefit payments will stop. The