DWP Central Freedom of Information
Team
Caxton House
6-12 Tothil Street
London
SW1H 9NA
Charles El inson
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx
DWP Website
Our Ref: FOI2022/93172
Date: 20 December 2022
Dear Charles Ellinson,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FoI) request received on 21 November. You wrote:
“At Autumn Statement 2022 it was announced that the government wil proceed with the
national rol out of the In-Work Progression ("IWP") offer within Universal Credit starting from
Sep 2023.
Please can you provide any documents and information held by the Department relating to
IWP and its rol out national y. This includes:
a) details of what IWP wil mean for UC claimants in terms of claimant responsibilities and
potential sanctions.
b) details of how the rol out is planned to take place, and how it wil interact with the Light
Touch Regime (which is the conditionality regime for claimants earning in excess of the
Administrative Earnings Threshold ("AET")).
For example, wil the rol out involve a gradual increase in the level of the AET, until the AET
is removed completely?”
DWP Response
We can confirm that the Department holds the information you are seeking.
However, we are engaging an exemption from disclosure under Section 22 of the FoI Act as the
information is intended for publication at a future date.
As required by the FoI Act the use of this qualified exemption requires the public interest for and
against disclosure to be assessed.
We recognise that there is public interest in the in-work progression announcement made at the
Autumn Statement, and that release of the information would provide greater transparency in this
area, including further details of who this policy wil impact, and how it wil be delivered when
introduced from September 2023, especial y given the recent interest.
Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act al ows us to direct you to information that is
reasonably accessible to you, as it is already in the public domain, to be helpful, the fol owing
links may be useful as they contain further key data/evidence sources on the future in-work
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claimant group and show results of a trial carried out to test the effectiveness of differing
intensities of support and conditionality provided to current Universal Credit claimants in low-paid
work or low-income households:
The Future Cohort Study: understanding Universal Credit’s future in-work claimant group
(publishing.service.gov.uk)
Summary: Universal Credit: in-work progression randomised control ed trial
(publishing.service.gov.uk)
The information contained in the fol owing Freedom of Information response and ad-hoc
statistical release for the recent changes to the Administrative Earnings Threshold are of
relevance as they provide information about the in-work Universal Credit caseload:
EA for raising the AET - a Freedom of Information request to Department for Work and Pensions
- WhatDoTheyKnow
Numbers moved to Universal Credit’s Intensive Work Search Regime because of the increase in
the Administrative Earnings Threshold - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
There are currently no plans to raise the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) beyond the
equivalent of 15 hours at the national living wage (NLW).
Yours sincerely,
DWP Central Freedom of Information Team
Department for Work and Pensions
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Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act
If you are not happy with this response you may request an internal review by e-mailing freedom-
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xx or by writing to: DWP Central FoI Team, Caxton House, 6-12
Tothil Street, London, SW1H 9NA.
Any review request should be submitted within two months of the date of this letter.
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you may apply directly to the
Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision. General y, the Commissioner cannot make a
decision unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House,
Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Website: ICO FOI and EIR complaints or telephone 0303 123 1113.
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