Plans to move 2.6million households onto Universal Credit could see people hammered by a benefit freeze.
Ministers tonight announced they will start moving people from six old-style ‘legacy’ benefits to UC on May 9 and finish in December 2024. But up to 900,000 of the 2.6m ‘legacy’ households will be worse off long-term under UC, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted.
They will get transition payments to ensure their income does not drop overnight. But in return their benefits will then effectively be frozen every April - possibly for years.
