Universal Credit
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what analysis his Department has undertaken on the reasons for increases in the numbers of successful applications for Universal Credit in the last three years.
Answered by Sir Stephen Timms
People moving from old legacy benefits onto Universal Credit – almost four in every five – account for the vast majority of the increase over the past year. This is a transition we inherited from the previous government, alongside a system that writes people off
We are fixing this. We've already legislated to remove incentives that discourage work, and have redeployed 1,000 work coaches to support thousands of sick and disabled people who were previously left without contact for years.
Alongside this, there has been an increase in the working age population, as a result of population growth and a rising state pension age, as well as an increase in the proportion of the working age population in receipt of incapacity benefits (including ESA and those on the UC Health Journey) over this period.
The latest Universal Credit (UC) statistics published on 17 February 2026 now include a breakdown of those who received a migration notice and have moved from legacy benefits to UC as part of the Move to UC programme, and can be found at
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-statistics-29-april-2013-to-8-january-2026
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