Welfare ministers have insisted lessons learned from 13 local authority pilots trialling the transition to Universal Credit (UC) will help tackle a wide range of issues which are restricting many benefit claimants from working.

The call follows a progress update by government social scientists into how the 13 local authority-led pilots, pioneering the coalition's flagship welfare reform, have addressed key challenges around digital inclusion, budgeting, rent arrears and access to work.

To help the most vulnerable claimants, some pilot authorities had established triage systems to target people most likely to be affected by the move to a single monthly benefit payment who would require extra support.

Key issues faced by local authorities included limited data-sharing and the need to overhaul existing partnership arrangements with other public bodies.

The researchers found more work is needed to understand the core business and service delivery processes of each partnership agency, and advised establishing such collaborative arrangements takes time.

‘We are determined that UC will help us to battle social, financial and digital exclusion, the barriers that are now holding back many people from taking part in 21st century life in Britain,' said Lord Freud, minister for welfare reform.

‘The transition to claiming online and receiving monthly benefit payments under UC will not be a major step for most claimants,' he added. ‘But we clearly recognise that some people will need extra support and this is exactly why we are running these pilots and have extended them for a further three months.'

Separately, a prepaid card firm has warned research shows it takes around six salary or benefit payment cycles before people gain mastery over how they spend money and begin to budget responsibly.

According to Prepaid Financial Services, this means thousands of households which lack bank accounts are at risk of being made homeless and without enough money for food unless given choice over how they receive benefit money through UC.

Neil Moran, chief executive of Prepaid Financial Services, said: ‘We need to face up to the dangers of UC before it is implemented nationwide and realise there is a flexible solution staring Government in the face.'