Move families onto Universal Credit when a legacy benefit they receive closes

changelog.d/2119.fixed.md

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Fixed Universal Credit closure claims with ineligible partners, preserved protected mixed-age couples' pension-age route when Universal Credit entitlement is nil, and applied the nation-specific Council Tax Reduction rules for pension-age tax credit migrants.

changelog.d/uc-claim-at-legacy-closure.added.md

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+- Move families onto Universal Credit when DWP closes a legacy benefit they receive: tax credits from 2025-26, Income Support and income-based JSA from 2026-27. Families on Pension Credit, and families on Child Tax Credit only that meet the Pension Credit age conditions, go to Pension Credit instead (SI 2019/167 art. 3A). Pension-age families on Working Tax Credit can claim Universal Credit with the upper age condition waived (SI 2014/1230 reg 60A), and protected mixed-age couples on it can claim jointly (UC Regulations 2013 reg 3(2)(a)); either leaves the pension-age route only by claiming and having positive Universal Credit entitlement before the benefit cap and deductions. A new dataset input, `would_claim_uc_at_legacy_closure` (default true), says whether the family claims. `claims_universal_credit` replaces `would_claim_uc` wherever the model asks whether a family claims Universal Credit, including whose claim counts a household's non-dependants. The family's other legacy awards end at the closure whether or not it claims (SI 2014/1230 regs 8 and 46).

docs/book/programs/gov/dwp/universal-credit.ipynb

@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
   {
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-   "source": "## How PolicyEngine computes Universal Credit\n\nPolicyEngine computes Universal Credit at the benefit-unit level in three stages:\n\n1. **Maximum entitlement** (`uc_maximum_amount`): sum the elements the benunit qualifies for — `uc_standard_allowance`, `uc_child_element`, `uc_disability_elements`, `uc_carer_element`, `uc_housing_costs_element`, and `uc_childcare_element`.\n2. **Means test**: only the claimants' income counts: the single claimant, or the two joint claimants (`is_uc_assessed_claimant`; UC Regulations 2013 reg 22(1)). The earnings and unearned income of a child, a qualifying young person or anyone else in the benefit unit are theirs, not the claimant's, so the Universal Credit means test does not count them. Who the claimants are comes from `is_uc_claimant` (the claimant and partner); a member flagged there is taken as a claimant whatever their age. Each person's earnings (`uc_individual_earned_income`) are net of their own relievable pension contributions and the income tax and National Insurance they pay on that employment or self-employment (UC Regulations 2013 regs 55(5) and 57(2)): `uc_income_tax_on_earnings` treats earnings as the lowest slice of the person's non-savings income, so tax on pensions, property, savings and dividends is never deducted, and one partner's tax never reduces the other's earnings. A claimant in gainful self-employment outside a start-up period who would otherwise be subject to all work-related requirements is subject to the minimum income floor (reg 62): when their earnings after those deductions are below `uc_minimum_income_floor`, they are treated as having that amount instead. The floor does not apply to a claimant in the no work-related requirements, work-focused interview or work preparation group (`uc_work_related_group_apart_from_earnings`; Welfare Reform Act 2012 ss 19 to 21): for example one with limited capability for work-related activity, a carer, a claimant over State Pension Credit qualifying age, or the responsible carer of a child under 3. Only one member of a couple is the responsible carer (`uc_is_responsible_carer`); where the nomination is not supplied the model takes the claimant who works fewer hours (`hours_worked`), then the elder. `hours_worked` defaults to 0, so for a couple entered without hours the default falls to the elder; supply `uc_is_responsible_carer` where the nomination is known. The floor is the minimum wage for their age for their expected hours (`uc_expected_hours`: 35 a week, or for the responsible carer of a child under 13 the hours DWP uses: 30 from February 2025, from April 2017 until then 16 for a child under compulsory school age and 25 for an older child, and 25 for any child under 13 before April 2017; regs 88 and 90(2)), less the income tax and the Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance a self-employed person would pay on it (reg 62(4)(b) leaves this amount to the Secretary of State; this is the basis of DWP's guidance and figures, and setting the `gov.dwp.universal_credit.means_test.minimum_income_floor.self_employed_national_insurance` parameter to false deducts primary Class 1 instead). A member of a couple is lifted only while the couple's combined earnings are below the couple threshold, and never above it (reg 62(3)). The couple threshold is the sum of both partners' thresholds (reg 90(3)): 16 hours for a partner in the work-focused interview or work preparation group, nothing for a partner with no work-related requirements for a reason other than earnings, and 35 hours at the national living wage (the adult rate before April 2016) for a partner who cannot be a joint claimant (reg 90(3)(b)). The maximum entitlement is then reduced by 55% (the `gov.dwp.universal_credit.means_test.reduction_rate` parameter) of the claimants' combined earnings above the work allowance (`uc_work_allowance`), and by all of the claimants' unearned income (`uc_unearned_income`), pound for pound. Unearned income is the list in `gov.dwp.universal_credit.means_test.income_definitions.unearned`: retirement pension income (State Pension and private pensions, UC Regulations 2013 regs 66(1)(a) and 67), Carer's Allowance, carer support payment (up to the Carer's Allowance rate, from November 2023), contribution-based JSA and ESA, maternity allowance, industrial injuries benefit, and the tariff income deemed from capital (reg 72). Actual savings interest, dividends and ordinary rental income are excluded from UC unearned income at every capital level; capital counts through its tariff income instead. Asset rules apply on top of this — capital above the lower threshold deems a tariff income, and capital above the upper threshold disqualifies the benunit entirely.\n3. **Benefit cap**: the post-means-test award (`universal_credit_pre_benefit_cap`) is finally reduced by `benefit_cap_reduction` to produce `universal_credit`. The benefit cap only applies to benunits without a benefit-cap exemption (the claimants earning enough, having a qualifying disability benefit, etc.). The earnings exception reads the claimants' earnings only (reg 82(1)(a)), the capped total counts only the claimants' own contributory benefits (WRA 2012 s.96(1)), and the childcare work condition tests only the claimants (reg 32(1)).\n\nThe take-up step is handled by the input variable `would_claim_uc`, which is populated stochastically when the dataset is built so that PolicyEngine's caseload aggregates match published DWP claimant numbers rather than the full eligible population.\n\nParameters live in `policyengine_uk/parameters/gov/dwp/universal_credit/` and the per-element formulas in `policyengine_uk/variables/gov/dwp/universal_credit/`."
+   "source": "## How PolicyEngine computes Universal Credit\n\nPolicyEngine computes Universal Credit at the benefit-unit level in three stages:\n\n1. **Maximum entitlement** (`uc_maximum_amount`): sum the elements the benunit qualifies for — `uc_standard_allowance`, `uc_child_element`, `uc_disability_elements`, `uc_carer_element`, `uc_housing_costs_element`, and `uc_childcare_element`.\n2. **Means test**: only the claimants' income counts: the single claimant, or the two joint claimants (`is_uc_assessed_claimant`; UC Regulations 2013 reg 22(1)). The earnings and unearned income of a child, a qualifying young person or anyone else in the benefit unit are theirs, not the claimant's, so the Universal Credit means test does not count them. Who the claimants are comes from `is_uc_claimant` (the claimant and partner); a member flagged there is taken as a claimant whatever their age. Each person's earnings (`uc_individual_earned_income`) are net of their own relievable pension contributions and the income tax and National Insurance they pay on that employment or self-employment (UC Regulations 2013 regs 55(5) and 57(2)): `uc_income_tax_on_earnings` treats earnings as the lowest slice of the person's non-savings income, so tax on pensions, property, savings and dividends is never deducted, and one partner's tax never reduces the other's earnings. A claimant in gainful self-employment outside a start-up period who would otherwise be subject to all work-related requirements is subject to the minimum income floor (reg 62): when their earnings after those deductions are below `uc_minimum_income_floor`, they are treated as having that amount instead. The floor does not apply to a claimant in the no work-related requirements, work-focused interview or work preparation group (`uc_work_related_group_apart_from_earnings`; Welfare Reform Act 2012 ss 19 to 21): for example one with limited capability for work-related activity, a carer, a claimant over State Pension Credit qualifying age, or the responsible carer of a child under 3. Only one member of a couple is the responsible carer (`uc_is_responsible_carer`); where the nomination is not supplied the model takes the claimant who works fewer hours (`hours_worked`), then the elder. `hours_worked` defaults to 0, so for a couple entered without hours the default falls to the elder; supply `uc_is_responsible_carer` where the nomination is known. The floor is the minimum wage for their age for their expected hours (`uc_expected_hours`: 35 a week, or for the responsible carer of a child under 13 the hours DWP uses: 30 from February 2025, from April 2017 until then 16 for a child under compulsory school age and 25 for an older child, and 25 for any child under 13 before April 2017; regs 88 and 90(2)), less the income tax and the Class 2 and Class 4 National Insurance a self-employed person would pay on it (reg 62(4)(b) leaves this amount to the Secretary of State; this is the basis of DWP's guidance and figures, and setting the `gov.dwp.universal_credit.means_test.minimum_income_floor.self_employed_national_insurance` parameter to false deducts primary Class 1 instead). A member of a couple is lifted only while the couple's combined earnings are below the couple threshold, and never above it (reg 62(3)). The couple threshold is the sum of both partners' thresholds (reg 90(3)): 16 hours for a partner in the work-focused interview or work preparation group, nothing for a partner with no work-related requirements for a reason other than earnings, and 35 hours at the national living wage (the adult rate before April 2016) for a partner who cannot be a joint claimant (reg 90(3)(b)). The maximum entitlement is then reduced by 55% (the `gov.dwp.universal_credit.means_test.reduction_rate` parameter) of the claimants' combined earnings above the work allowance (`uc_work_allowance`), and by all of the claimants' unearned income (`uc_unearned_income`), pound for pound. Unearned income is the list in `gov.dwp.universal_credit.means_test.income_definitions.unearned`: retirement pension income (State Pension and private pensions, UC Regulations 2013 regs 66(1)(a) and 67), Carer's Allowance, carer support payment (up to the Carer's Allowance rate, from November 2023), contribution-based JSA and ESA, maternity allowance, industrial injuries benefit, and the tariff income deemed from capital (reg 72). Actual savings interest, dividends and ordinary rental income are excluded from UC unearned income at every capital level; capital counts through its tariff income instead. Asset rules apply on top of this — capital above the lower threshold deems a tariff income, and capital above the upper threshold disqualifies the benunit entirely.\n3. **Benefit cap**: the post-means-test award (`universal_credit_pre_benefit_cap`) is finally reduced by `benefit_cap_reduction` to produce `universal_credit`. The benefit cap only applies to benunits without a benefit-cap exemption (the claimants earning enough, having a qualifying disability benefit, etc.). The earnings exception reads the claimants' earnings only (reg 82(1)(a)), the capped total counts only the claimants' own contributory benefits (WRA 2012 s.96(1)), and the childcare work condition tests only the claimants (reg 32(1)).\n\nUniversal Credit is paid only to families that claim it (`claims_universal_credit`). There are two routes. The input `would_claim_uc` is drawn stochastically when the dataset is built, so that caseload aggregates match published DWP claimant numbers rather than the full eligible population. The second route covers a family whose legacy benefit has closed: tax credits from 2025-26, Income Support and income-based JSA from 2026-27 (`legacy_benefits_closed`). DWP's migration notice ended all such a family's legacy awards, and it claims Universal Credit if the input `would_claim_uc_at_legacy_closure` is true. The dataset draws that input at DWP's Move to Universal Credit claim rates by legacy benefit combination. Families DWP sent to Pension Credit instead are excluded: those on Pension Credit, and those on Child Tax Credit only that meet the Pension Credit age conditions (SI 2019/167 art. 3A). Pension-age families on Working Tax Credit can claim, because the upper age condition is waived for them (SI 2014/1230 reg 60A). Protected mixed-age couples on it can claim jointly (UC Regulations 2013 reg 3(2)(a)). Such a family leaves the pension-age route only if it claims and has positive Universal Credit entitlement before the benefit cap and deductions. A protected mixed-age couple that does not claim, or claims but has nil entitlement, can reclaim Housing Benefit and keep its saving (SI 2019/37 art. 4(3)(b)(ii), as amended by SI 2024/604 art. 2). For Council Tax Reduction, Scotland treats pension-age tax credit migrants entitled to Universal Credit as working-age applicants. England disregards their reg 60A awards for schemes from April 2025, and Wales does so only for schemes from April 2026 (SI 2025/39; WSI 2026/13). Both inputs default to true. To model a family that does not claim, set both to false. Not modelled: transitional protection, including the transitional capital disregard (SI 2014/1230 regs 48-57); pension-age and protected mixed-age Child Tax Credit recipients whose Working Tax Credit entitlement tapered to nil, whom DWP also moved to Universal Credit (HB circular A9/2024 paras 6 and 10). Reported award amounts and current annual hours/income do not establish pre-migration Working Tax Credit entitlement. This gap requires a methodology decision or historical-entitlement input; no proxy is selected; and the choice between routes, since a pension-age family that claims may get less than it would by declining.\n\nParameters live in `policyengine_uk/parameters/gov/dwp/universal_credit/` and the per-element formulas in `policyengine_uk/variables/gov/dwp/universal_credit/`."
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    "cell_type": "code",
@@ -1384,4 +1384,4 @@
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