In 2019 the Department for Work and Pensions started to move claimants in receipt of one or more of the following benefits to Universal Credit:

• Working Tax Credit
• Child Tax Credit
• income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance
• income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• Income Support
• Housing Benefit

The Covid-19 pandemic enforced a prolonged pause in this process, however we understand that it will resume during the course of this year. The Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022 update the proposals for this process.

During its statutory scrutiny of these draft proposals, the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) concluded that one aspect in particular required closer examination and has, accordingly, decided to take the regulations on formal reference (Sections 172(1) and 174(1) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 refer).

The issue requiring further scrutiny relates to draft regulation 9, which has the effect of removing the cap on the number of migration notices (10,000) that could be issued to existing claimants on legacy benefits, and the associated commitment by former Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Amber Rudd, to report back to Parliament before proceeding further. The Committee believes that there is a need to further consider the potential consequences of such a change, and that greater clarity is required on how the process (at key points of the migration process) will be scrutinised, and what success measures are considered to be.

Committee Chair, Dr Stephen Brien:

A process to move around 1.7 million households, many with complex lives, onto Universal Credit from legacy benefits creates a significant risk for both those who are reliant on these benefits and also for the Department for Work and Pensions in delivering it. 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.

This formal reference report will therefore look closely at how best to provide a framework of oversight, reporting and scrutiny for an agile migration process which will be evolving iteratively over time. We intend to seek evidence from experts with experience of ‘agile’ management to help inform our advice to the Secretary of State.

The Committee’s earlier report on The Universal Credit (Managed Migration) Regulations 2018 is available alongside the government’s response. The Committee will be drawing on the findings of this report for the wider context of this work and is grateful to those who gave evidence for it. The Committee is of the view that the report recommendations continue to be relevant and so will not be revisiting issues raised within that report during the current formal reference process.

The Committee carried out a detailed scrutiny of the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2022 at their meeting of 8 December 2022.

More information

SSAC is an independent advisory body of the Department for Work and Pensions. The committee’s role is to give advice on social security issues; scrutinise and report on social security regulations (including tax credits) and to consider and advise on any matters referred to it by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions or the Northern Ireland Department for Communities.

The committee’s Chair is Dr Stephen Brien. Its membership comprises: Bruce Calderwood, Matthew Doyle, Carl Emmerson, Chris Goulden, Kayley Hignell, Philip Jones, Gráinne McKeever, Seyi Obakin, Charlotte Pickles and Liz Sayce.

Most social security regulations come before SSAC for scrutiny, the only significant exceptions being regulations which go to other advisory bodies or set benefit rates. When SSAC has considered regulations which it has asked to be formally referred, its response is made in the form of a report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. That report must be presented to Parliament when the regulations are laid with a statement from the Secretary of State showing what has been done (or is intended to be done) about the SSAC’s recommendations (section 174(1) and (2) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992).

Further enquiries should be directed to Denise Whitehead, Committee Secretary, on 020 7829 3354 or at ssac@ssac.gov.uk

Documents

Children and young people will benefit from more tutoring through their school from next year, with all funding going direct to schools to simplify the National Tutoring Programme and reach as many pupils as possible.

In plans announced today (Thursday 31 March), all £349 million of tutoring funding we are providing in AY22/23 will go directly to schools. This will simplify the system and give schools the freedom to decide how best to provide tutoring for their children, which could include one on one or small group tutoring through teachers or teaching assistants, or continuing to work with external tutoring specialists and academic mentors.

The move will build on the success of the School-Led route in 2021/22 as the Department for Education continues to follow the evidence of what works.

The new model follows feedback directly from schools and will embed tutoring into children’s education where they need extra support to progress.

New estimates published today show an estimated 887,521 courses have started so far this academic year – with 674,941 through the School-Led route and 1,198,239 in total since the programme began – as the Government remains on track to deliver the ambitious target of up to six million courses by 2024.

Today’s announcement follows the launch of the Schools White Paper on Monday, which pledged that any child who falls behind in maths or English will get the evidence-based support they need to reach their potential – including through tutoring.

Education Secretary, Nadhim Zahawi, said:

The National Tutoring Programme is transforming the way schools provide support for the children and young people who need it most, with over 1.X million courses now started across the country since the programme began.

It’s also pivotal to the pledge I made to every parent as part of my Schools White Paper, that if their child falls behind in English and maths, that child will receive the high-quality support they need to get back on track.

“It’s teachers and schools that know their pupils best, which is why we are building on the success of school-led tutoring so far – with evidence as our watchword – so that as many children and young people as possible can feel the huge benefits high quality tutoring provides.”

As a result of the changes to the programme, the Department will launch a procurement process in April for a potential new supplier(s). The supplier will be responsible for quality assurance, recruiting and deploying Academic Mentors and offering training, which will support schools to make best use of their funding.

Schools that are currently working with Tuition Partners will be able to continue to do so in the next academic year. Similarly, eligible schools can continue to employ Academic Mentors who are on their staff this year, and will also still be able to recruit Academic Mentors directly.

So far this academic year, an estimated total of 83,805 courses have now started as a result of schools employing Academic Mentors, whilst 128,776 courses have started through schools working with a Tuition Partner. Evidence suggests that small group tuition can boost progress by an average of two months in secondary schools and four months in primary schools.

Schools will also be given the flexibility to deliver tuition over the summer holidays, as the date to utilise the enhanced SLT funding has been extended to the 31st August. This comes as new research published from the department into the successful Summer Schools programme last year highlighted positive feedback from schools in support of delivering relevant provision over the summer period.

Almost 2,800 English schools took part in the Summer Schools programme, with over half of schools (53%) surveyed as part of the research indicating that they believed summer schools were ‘extremely effective’ at improving pupil wellbeing and over two-thirds (68%) indicated they were ‘extremely effective’ for improving transition.

Data published earlier this week from the department shows primary pupils have already recovered around two thirds of progress lost due to the pandemic in reading, and around half of progress lost in maths, demonstrating the effectiveness of the Government’s wider, ambitious education recovery programme, worth nearly £5 billion, along with pupils returning to school.

As part of the Spending Review, the Government announced an additional £1bn to extend the recovery premium over the next two academic years (22/23 and 23/24). Primary schools will continue to benefit from an additional c.£145 per eligible pupil, with nearly double that amount in secondary schools.

This extra support in secondary reflects evidence showing greater learning loss for older pupils, and these pupils also have less time left in education. The Department will publish further detail around rates, allocations and conditions of grant shortly.

Schools, Tuition Partners and Academic Mentors already engaged in the programme will be contacted on next steps.