Research and analysis

Move to Universal Credit complaint statistics: April 2023 to December 2023

Published 11 March 2024

Background and Introduction

You can make a complaint if you’re unhappy with the service provided by DWP, for example if:

• mistakes have been made

• there were unreasonable delays

• you feel you’ve been treated poorly

• you haven’t been kept informed

A complaint is defined as any expression of dissatisfaction about the service provided which is not resolved by operational staff as normal business.

We will not investigate complaints:

• about government policy or law

• that have already been investigated or are currently being investigated by the Independent Case Examiner or the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman

• that are, or have been, subject to legal proceedings, including legal settlements

Move to UC is the initiative from the DWP to move all those claiming legacy benefits to claim Universal Credit.

Purpose of the statistics

This publication presents Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) management information on the number of and outcome of complaints about the Move to UC process.

Received complaints about Move to UC

In the period April to December 2023, there were 20 complaints with the key term ‘Legacy Move to UC’ received by the DWP.

Outcome of closed Move to UC complaints

In the period April to December 2023, there were 20 complaints with the key term ‘Legacy Move to UC’ closed by the DWP. ^{[footnote 1]}

Of these 20 closed complaints, 5 were Upheld (or partly) and 15 were not upheld. ^{[footnote 1]}

Notes about the data

The data used is based on complaints recorded in DWP’s eCase system ^{[footnote 2]}.  Complaints can be received by phone, in person, in writing or through Universal Credit claimant’s journals. The figures are subject to retrospection, meaning changes can occur as DWP receives updated information, particularly in the most recent month.

A key term is used to prioritise complaint cases using pre-determined labels. With this, there may be further complaints regarding move to UC that are not captured under this key term.

A key term is allocated at receipt. This key term can change as the complaint is progressed and more information is gathered.

The key term assigned to a complaint at closure cannot change.

Key terms assigned at receipt may not be the same as those assigned at closure. 

Therefore, complaints cleared with the key term ‘Move to UC’ may not be the same as the complaints received with that key term.

Definitions and terminology within the statistics

Ad-hoc statistics

This is a one-off statistical publication. It is published in the interest of transparency and is not part of our regular official statistics release for complaints.

Complaint

A complaint is defined as any expression of dissatisfaction about the service provided which is not resolved by operational staff as normal business.

Received Complaint

A received complaint is any complaint sent to the Department via official channels.

Closed Complaint

A closed complaint is a complaint that has been investigated by a DWP Complaint Resolution Manager (CRM) and a conclusion reached.

Upheld Complaint

An upheld complaint is where a DWP Complaint Resolution Manager has investigated the complaint and agrees that the service provided in each issue the customer has raised was below the standard expected and redress is appropriate, such as an apology.

Partially Upheld Complaint

A partially upheld complaint would be where a customer has raised more than one issue, the Complaint Resolution Manager has investigated and agrees that a poor service was provided in some, but not all, of the issues the customer raised and applies redress to the issues upheld.

Not Upheld

A complaint not upheld is where a DWP Complaint Resolution Manager (CRM) has investigated the complaint and has decided that DWP did not provide a service below the standards that they expect.

Key Term

A key term is a phrase or word associated to a complaint/correspondence and is used to prioritise complaints and MP correspondence. Key terms are mandatory and added to a case to provide an additional level of information for the reason for contact.

Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

The Code of Practice for Statistics is built around 3 main concepts, or pillars:

• trustworthiness – this is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics

• quality – is about using data and methods that produce assured statistics

• value – is about publishing statistics that support society’s needs for information

The following explains how we have applied the pillars of the Code in a proportionate way.

Trustworthiness

The figures are based on information supplied through the department’s online system, eCase, that is used to record complaints to the department. This system allows consistent and efficient recording of complaints.

Quality

The information presented on closed complaints is taken from the computer system used to record complaints. Quality assurance processes are built in the design of business rules used for producing the figures.

Value

In publishing this data, we aim to support the information needs of society, parliamentarians, and stakeholders, and maintain transparency between the Department for Work and Pensions and the public.

Where to find out more

You can find out more about the DWP Complaints procedure at the following site:

• Complaints procedure – Department for Work and Pensions

More information on the Move to Universal Credit can be found at the following site:

• Completing the move to Universal Credit

Contact information

For press enquiries, contact DWP Press Office on: 0203 267 5144.

1. Rounded to the nearest 5. ↩ ↩²

2. eCase is the system DWP uses to record and manage complaints and correspondence. ↩