Over the next few weeks, the first of around 1.7 million benefits claimants will be "slowly" moved onto Universal Credit according to plans drawn up by UK Ministers.
There have previously been fears raised by charities and the UK Government's welfare watchdog over plans to reinstate the "managed migration" of old-style claimants.
As reported in an exclusive by The Mirror, the transfer was paused as a result of Covid-19 but it will reportedly begin again this spring.
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The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will begin with a small number of people claiming Tax Credits, up to a cap of 10,000 households.
The cap will then reportedly be removed, after which the DWP will move onto disability and other benefits claimants.
By the end of 2024, the DWP plans to have all claimants on the new six-in-one benefit.
However, according to the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC), this move presents a "significant risk" for people claiming benefits — many of who live "complex lives".
The committee also warned that it presented risks for the DWP in delivering its plan, with Chair Dr Stephen Brien stating that there needs to be “independent oversight and scrutiny”.
He revealed that he would be looking at additional advice from experts regarding the plan to remove the 10,000-household cap.
UK Ministers have insisted that Universal Credit tends to be more generous than old-style benefits, after being forced to reform it on multiple occasions in response to public outcry — with many people in the UK having to turn to food banks.
The six-week wait was reduced to give, allowances for people in work were increased, and he amount given to debt repayments was slashed.
However, according to campaign groups, some people may still be worse off.
Chief executive of anti-poverty charity Z2K Anela Anwar stated that raising the 10,000 cap must get fresh approval in Parliament.
She said: “It ensures DWP avoids a repeat of the shambolic early stages of Universal Credit, when many people were left without anything to live on for weeks or sometimes even months on end.
“That resulted in MPs getting hundreds of complaints from desperate and angry constituents.”
Dr Brien was one of the original brains behind Universal Credit, and faced questions over his impartiality in 2020 when he became SSAC chairman. He hit back at this at the time, insisting his work would be “evidence-based”.
He told ministers on the latest change: “I can provide assurance that we do not wish to unduly delay the process.
“We will not be undertaking a large-scale public consultation on this occasion but intend to seek the advice of a small number of experts, including those with significant experience or expertise of agile processes and their governance.”
But he added: “For the public to have confidence in this process and to minimise risk further consideration needs to be given to establishing appropriate independent oversight and scrutiny of the programme as it moves forward.”
DWP Permanent Secretary Peter Schofield said in November that he was “determined” to see Universal Credit fully rolled out by December 2024.
He told MPs: “We got the funding in the spending review to finish this on time.”
The benefit’s director general Neil Couling suggested the transfer would be a “slow, slow, slow experience”, adding: “You need to develop your processes and do that with small volumes.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “Universal Credit is a modern dynamic benefit which supports people in and out of work. We have always been clear about our ambition to move people over from the legacy systems, which are complex, inefficient and based on aging, inflexible IT.
“The Department will continue its regular engagement with the committee and our ambition remains to see the rollout of Universal Credit delivered safely and on time by 2024.”
