The Government minister in charge of the biggest transformation of the welfare system in more than 60 years has been in Bath ahead of the roll out of Universal Credit.
Bath will be the eighth area in the country to get the new system when it launches in the city later this month.
Universal Credit will replace a string of out-of-work benefits and those claiming will see their payments merged into one single monthly payment.
Minister for Welfare Reform, Lord Freud, spent the morning talking to staff at the city's Job Centre, representatives from Bath and North East Somerset Council and social housing groups as well as business leaders.
"We have got to many people trapped in benefits in this country and this system opens up the benefits trap and allows people to go back into the work place and allows people to do that whatever their situation."
Under Universal Credit anyone receiving income-based jobseeker's allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, income support, child tax credit, working tax credit and housing benefit will receive a single payment, which will be paid monthly rather than weekly or fortnightly.
Unlike the current benefits system there will be no limits on the number of hours a person can work - at the moment people are limited to 16 hours a week or they cannot claim. Using a new real time information IT system employers will be able to inform the Government what hours people have worked and their benefits will be adjusted accordingly.
Director of Marshfield Bakery, Chris Smith, said the company welcomed the changes.
"Anything that removes some of the barriers against people coming back into work or coming into work will help things. We are recruiting hard but it is difficult.
"We do find people are concerned about coming off Job Seekers or other benefits in order to start work particularly if they have be unemployed for a little while - they don't have the confidence to say this will work for me."
Universal Credit will start in Bath on February 24. Initially it will only be available to single people who are new to the system, later in the year it will be open to couples and eventually families.
People already claiming benefits are not expected to be transferred to the new system until 2017.
