By GB News (World News) | Created at 2025-04-04 11:56:21 | Updated at 2025-04-05 10:23:34
22 hours ago
Thousands of parents have received urgent warning letters from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as Tax Credits are set to end this weekend.
The benefit will cease on April 5, 2025, marking the first of this year's legacy benefit closures.
Claimants must switch to Universal Credit when they receive their migration notice letter, or their payments will be axed completely.
Many who currently receive Child Tax Credits and Working Tax Credits have still not registered for Universal Credit.
The Department for Work and Pensions
PA
The move is part of the DWP's ongoing managed migration programme, which aims to move all claimants of legacy benefits to Universal Credit by March 2026.
These include Child Tax Credits, Housing Benefit, Income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support and Working Tax Credits.
There has been significant confusion about the transition process, with many recipients at risk of losing their transitional protection. This happens if they fail to respond within three months of receiving their notice.
The DWP plans to send migration notices to all legacy benefit claimants by the end of this year. Beyond the Tax Credits transition, the DWP is also implementing controversial reforms to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) benefits.
Overall spending on working-age health-related benefits rose from £36billion in 2019-20 to £48billion in 2023-24.
Critics have raised concerns about the scale of benefit cuts. The New Economics Foundation (NEF) suggests 340,000 people face being pushed into poverty - 100,000 more than Government estimates.
Tom Pollard, head of social policy at NEF, told Yahoo News: "It is misleading to suggest that this materially offsets the scale and impact of actual cuts the Government plans to implement."
The Government has defended its approach, with a DWP spokesman stating: "Helping people into good work and financial independence is at the heart of our Plan to Change."
