PUC0001

Written evidence submitted by Mind

About Mind

We're Mind, the mental health charity for England and Wales. We’re here to fight for mental health. For support, for respect, for you. We change minds across England and Wales by making mental health an everyday priority. We support minds – offering help, information, advice, and local services. And we connect minds. Bringing together people who care about mental health to make a difference. We work with MPs from across the political spectrum to ensure that everyone experiencing a mental health problem gets support and respect.

The Department for Work and Pensions’ plans for managed migration

1. The DWP’s approach to managed migration places the responsibility for moving to Universal Credit (UC) onto individuals, requiring them to apply for UC themselves. This includes people who may be very unwell and so safeguards and support need to be put in place. The DWP has a responsibility to make the move to UC a fair and secure process for people with mental health problems.

2. With just a three-month window in which people must apply for UC, people with mental health problems may miss communications from the Department and be unable to make a claim themselves. There is a serious risk that people with mental health problems will have their benefit entitlement removed before they have made a successful UC claim, leaving them with no income.

3. Many of us with mental health problems have times when we struggle to pick up the phone or open our post. When we are unable to engage with the world around us. Receiving communications from the DWP, understanding them, and acting on them, can be incredibly difficult. Suddenly having your benefit cut off because you have not been able to go through a new process is a terrifying prospect.

4. There are approximately 624,000 people with mental health problems, learning disabilities and dementia receiving income-based Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) who will be affected by managed migration.[1] Beyond that will be many other people with mental health problems receiving other benefits. In particular, people receiving tax credits are likely to include people that work part-time or in low paid work due to the impacts of their mental health problems. The DWP needs to account for bringing these people into the new UC system and should be offering them support.

5. Between July 2022 and August 2023 (the time period for which we have full data), 25% of people who were sent migration notices did not claim UC at all and had their benefit payments terminated.[2] This is 29,610 of the 116,450 migration notices sent. This a significant number of people to be left without support from the benefits system due to managed migration. Given that the number of notices to be sent out is ramping up significantly so that the DWP’s deadlines are met, these numbers are likely to get much worse. The DWP needs to do more to help people move over.

6. The DWP should have three clear priorities:

• Ensuring no one has their legacy claim cut off without claiming UC.
• Providing the support people need to apply for UC.
• Providing the information people need to understand the move to UC.

Support for people with mental health problems

7. The process of having to apply for a new benefit is very difficult for people to engage with when they’re unwell. UC operates differently to legacy benefits and moving over will be difficult for some people with mental health problems:

• UC is ‘digital by default’, so UC usually has to be applied for online and managed through an online journal. Lots of people don’t have the skills or the internet connection to be able to do this.
• UC operates on ‘explicit consent’, meaning that a person must give specific permission and reasoning to the DWP for someone to be able to help them with their claim and have access to specific information. This needs to be done every time they need support.[3] This can be very difficult for someone already struggling to understand how the UC system works. It means it is more difficult to get support from someone else to help with your claim and manage your benefit.[4]  
• UC is paid monthly, which can be very difficult for some people with mental health problems who struggle with budgeting skills or managing spending impulses.[5] The DWP can enable you to have an ‘Alternative Payment Arrangement’ to get more frequent payments, but this can be difficult to access. 
• There is usually a ‘five week wait’ in UC, though people moving over to UC from a legacy benefit should receive a ‘run on payment’ for their legacy benefit so that this wait is not as long. 

8. The DWP has been enabling people to apply for UC over the phone, but it’s unclear whether this will continue as the numbers of people going through UC managed migration will increase, and whether people are then able to manage their claim over the phone. The DWP needs to be flexible in its approach to the online journal. In the past, they’ve held a high bar for phone applications and encouraged people to apply and manage their claims online. The DWP’s own research with people in the ESA support group and UC LCWRA group found that 42% of people were unable or struggled to use the internet and 21% had no access to the internet inside or outside their homes.[6] This suggests disabled people are particularly disadvantaged by the DWP’s approach. The DWP should make it simple for claims to be managed over the phone.

9. The DWP has recently been testing an ‘enhanced support journey’ that is triggered if they have not heard from people receiving ESA or Income Support 11 or 12 weeks after sending their migration notice. This journey includes making up to 3 calls to the individual to prompt them to apply. For ESA, if the DWP has been unable to get in touch with the individual, they notify them that they intend to visit them at home and then, unless asked not to, carry out this home visit. For people receiving Income Support, there is the added step of system checks to identify if there are any support needs that suggest a home visit is needed. The DWP can also contact other agencies who are in touch with the individual.

10. We were pleased to hear of this process, which is likely to reduce the risk of people with mental health problems seeing their legacy benefit cut off before they make a claim. We know that the prospect of a home visit from the DWP will be daunting to many, but when the alternative in the current system is that the DWP cut their benefits off, we think this is needed. If they get to the end of the enhanced support journey and the DWP hasn’t been able to make contact with the individual, we suggest that they automatically extend or cancel their migration deadline. We hope that this process is used at least for everyone receiving ESA.

11. It is important that anyone sent a migration notice should be able to easily request an extension to their deadline. It can be very difficult to explain to a stranger the effect of your circumstances, particularly your mental health. Therefore, DWP staff should be flexible and allow extensions in a wide range of circumstances. Anyone with a mental health problem should be granted an extension if they ask for one.

12. Reasonable adjustments are crucial to reduce the barriers disabled people face. But disabled people, particularly with mental health problems, often don’t know about adjustments or how to access them. The DWP has not done enough to arrange adjustments for people who need them. CPAG carried out research with 27 people receiving UC with mental health problems over six months. They found that no one involved in their research was offered reasonable adjustments, an alternative preferred method of communication, or asked if their mental health affected their ability to interact with UC.[7]

13. UC is paid monthly, but budgeting can be extremely difficult for some people with mental health problems. Alternative Payment Arrangements (APAs), which include direct payments to landlords and twice monthly payments, are available, but don’t tend to be offered. APAs can make a big difference to an individual and reduce a significant source of stress. They should be offered routinely as people move from ESA to UC.

14. The DWP often talks about people being fearful of moving over to UC. While some of this may be due to misinformation, we believe it is largely based on real issues people face with UC. UC was not designed with disabled people in mind. The issue of UC not working for disabled people will only increase with the removal of the WCA. After this, people who are very unwell will be at risk of conditionality and sanctions. The lack of trust people have in the DWP is due to the way disabled people have been treated through the benefits system. The DWP must do more to address this.

15. We know that many people with mental health problems are very concerned about moving to UC. We’ve had calls to our welfare rights advice line from people who are worried about managed migration, even though they haven’t had notices yet. The concerns are always very similar:

• Will I get less money?
• Will I have to be reassessed?
• How do I survive while my new UC claim is being processed?

16. Callers can be very anxious - sometimes suicidal - about the prospect of reassessment and possible loss of income. Callers are sometimes unsure if they have to ring the ESA and housing benefit teams to stop their legacy claims first before claiming UC.

17. In August 2022, we asked LM benefit advisors about their experience supporting people making UC claims (this did not include people going through managed migration):

• Local Mind benefits advisers have told us that they’ve had very varied experiences of securing alternative payment arrangements (APAs) for the people they’re supporting with their benefits.
• We know that lots of people with mental health problems struggle with budgeting and being able to switch to twice monthly payments more easily would make a big difference to many people.
• Local Mind benefits advisers’ experiences of arranging someone reasonable adjustments in UC have depended on local relationships with Jobcentres and individuals who understand the need for them.
• This means that people’s access to reasonable adjustments is inconsistent, and this is likely to be more of an issue during managed migration.
• Local Mind benefits advisers find that UC helpline staff vary considerably in their ability to give correct information and to help.

18. We have made recommendations to the DWP to address these issues.

Mind’s recommendations

19. No-one subject to managed migration should have their existing benefits stopped until they have established a claim to Universal Credit. Applying for UC can be very difficult for people with mental health problems. The DWP needs to provide proactive support that enables people with mental health problems to establish their claim. This support must be in place throughout the process, starting with an initial letter which:

• Asks people to apply for Universal Credit.
• Has clear instructions on how to apply and what happens next.
• Is clear that they should claim UC first and then their other benefits will be closed automatically.
• Includes that they will not need to have another Work Capability Assessment.
• Explains that run-on support of their old benefit will mean they do not face the five-week wait before their first payment.
• Includes details of transitional protection.
• Explains reasonable adjustments and gives examples of these.
• Signposts to the Help to Claim service, support available at the Jobcentre Plus, and any local authority support available.
• Provides a number for a helpline via which staff can explain why the individual is being asked to apply for Universal Credit and the protections, support and adjustments available.
• Asks the individuals to contact the DWP if they are currently too unwell to apply for Universal Credit, including if they are in hospital, so that DWP can delay migration until the person is well enough.
• Informs the individual that if the DWP does not hear from them, they will get in touch again and try to make contact though any other support system they know the person has.

20. Follow up communications should be designed with people with lived experience to ensure that they are appropriate and safe. As a starting point, we suggest:

•         After one month: A follow up phone call and further letter re-explaining managed migration and the support available.

•         After two months: DWP staff get in touch with any other contacts they have on file for the individual, such as a support worker.

•         After three months: The DWP could consider a safeguarding visit to the person’s address. Working with people with lived experience, the DWP should consider who would be most appropriate to make this visit, if anyone.

•         If they have been unable to make contact with the individual, they should not stop their legacy claim, particularly for people receiving ESA.

21. The DWP should be clear in migration notices that extensions to deadlines are available, and provide them to anyone with a mental health problem who needs one.

• The DWP do grant extensions to people’s managed migration deadline dates, but only when someone has what the DWP determines to be a ‘good reason’. Requiring a ‘good reason’ places a barrier that shouldn’t be there.

22. The DWP should proactively offer reasonable adjustments to anyone subject to managed migration. Reasonable adjustments are crucial to reduce the barriers disabled people face. But disabled people, particularly with mental health problems, often don’t know about adjustments or how to access them. Evidence has shown that the DWP is not doing enough to arrange adjustments for people who need them. In migration notices, the DWP should offer adjustments to people receiving ESA. This should include:

•         Offering face-to-face or telephone support instead of the online journal to apply for and manage their Universal Credit claim.

•         Offering Alternative Payment Arrangements of more frequent payments if the person would struggle to manage monthly payments.

•         Asking people whether they need a particular communication method.

23. Jobcentre and DWP helpline staff must be better trained to support people to access these adjustments and to support disabled people and people with mental health problems with their UC claim.

24. The explicit consent system should be reformed so that it is easier for people to get support to manage their Universal Credit claim.

• We support Money and Mental Health’s calls for the DWP to: provide clear advice on how people can get support from a loved one to manage their UC claim and give people more flexible options to share information about their Universal Credit account with people supporting them.

February 2024