WORK is set to begin on analysing data following an 'ground-breaking' council scheme to help Universal Credit benefit claimants.

As previously reported, the three-month-long Winchester FIRST pilot project, launched by Winchester City Council, aimed to support residents transitioning onto the new benefits system.

The project which ran between November and January saw a group of residents in the city due to receive Universal Credit issued with a Mastercard account, which their benefits was be paid into.

However, the account will have a 'special wallet' that will hold housing benefit funds to ensure there is enough money left for residents to pay rent each month – which may solve one of the criticisms levelled against the government system.

The scheme was unveiled by the city council's portfolio holder for finance Guy Ashton at a cabinet meeting in December and is the brainchild of the city council's benefits and welfare team.

Now work will begin to discover the results, with Winchester City Council assimilating the data, before sending it to Southampton University for analysis.

Speaking back in December, Cllr Ashton said: "Winchester City Council is taking the lead in providing a positive and empowering level of support, education and assistance to its residents as they transition to Universal Credit.

"By creating an imaginative and ground-breaking programme, the council is building a way of making Universal Credit work better for our residents.

"I hope that our pilot program will inspire other local authorities to learn and participate in similar schemes.”

Cllr Ashton added that the pilot will see thousands of residents who are struggling under the benefits system helped and that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) would be paying close attention to the results.

As part of the staggered roll-out of Universal Credit nationwide, Winchester is due to begin using Universal Credit from July.