Asked by Baroness King of Bow

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many claimants in Tower Hamlets they expect to be migrated to universal credit between October 2013 and March 2014.

10 Apr 2013 : Column WA340

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud): Claims to universal credit start in our Pathfinder from 29 April 2013. Pathfinder will focus on new single unemployed people, with or without rented housing costs, and will replace means-tested jobseeker's allowance for this group of claimants. If these claimants then move into work, they will be eligible to claim universal credit, not working tax credit.

Universal credit will then progressively roll out in a managed way across the country from October 2013. This will ultimately include all claims from people both in and out of work, with everyone, including people in Tower Hamlets, eventually claiming the new benefit by 2017.