The Department of Work and Pensions has announced a £10 million Universal Credit Transition Fund for outreach programmes to help vulnerable people make Universal Credit claims.

The fund will be available to partner organisations across the UK, including charities, from April 2020. It will aim to help vulnerable people, including disabled people, care leavers and those with mental health issues, claim Universal Credit as a route into work. It will support innovative ideas for engaging with vulnerable people early, helping them to make timely claims to the new benefit.

Figures show that a fifth of claimants delayed making a claim for Universal Credit, largely because they didn’t know how to make a claim or because they thought they would find a job quickly.

DWP is also providing severe disability payments (SDP) to protect the most vulnerable. Severely disabled claimants can receive SDP to support their living costs as they move onto Universal Credit. This is worth a maximum of £405 a month to claimants.

Around 1 million disabled households will receive an average of around £100 more per month through Universal Credit.