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1698027

	registered interest
	date	21/03/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will publish the readiness criteria used for the managed migration to universal credit; and, if not, why.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL3521
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/03/2024 answer text <p>The Senior Responsible Owner for Universal Credit set out the criteria for the Public Accounts Committee at its hearing on March 11, 2024, Progress in implementing Universal Credit (HC 552) Question 26 <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/14467/pdf/" target="_blank">committees.parliament.uk/oralevidence/14467/pdf/</a></p><p> </p><p>The formal assessments are published as part of the regular releases of Programme Board papers.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 27/03/2024 16:33:59 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1682818

	registered interest
	date	17/01/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many Universal Credit claims were subject to (1) deductions (advance repayments), third party reductions and all other deductions, (2) reductions (sanctions and fraud penalties), and (3) suspension (stop in payment due to doubt over entitlement), in the 2022–23 financial year; and what was the (a) average, and (b) total, amount (i) deducted, (ii) reduced, and (iii) suspended; and what proportion does this represent.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick
	uin	HL1702
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 31/01/2024 answer text <p>Information on 1) deductions and 2) fraud penalties for Universal Credit are provided in the tables below.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1: Number of households with a Universal Credit Claim subject to at least one deduction, broken down by deduction type; the number of households with a deduction as a proportion of all universal credit households; what the total sum of deductions was; how much on average was deducted, in the 2022-23 financial year.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>2022/23</p></td><td><p>Number of distinct UC claims</p></td><td><p>Proportion of Universal Credit Claims subject to Deduction</p></td><td><p>Total Amount Deducted</p></td><td><p>Average Deduction Amount</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Claims with deduction for an advance</p></td><td><p>2,400,000</p></td><td><p>38%</p></td><td><p>£690,000,000</p></td><td><p>£40</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Claims with deduction for third party</p></td><td><p>950,000</p></td><td><p>15%</p></td><td><p>£227,000,000</p></td><td><p>£33</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Claims with other deductions</p></td><td><p>2,200,000</p></td><td><p>34%</p></td><td><p>£684,000,000</p></td><td><p>£49</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>All UC claims with at least one deduction</p></td><td><p>3,500,000</p></td><td><p>55%</p></td><td><p>£1,601,000,000</p></td><td><p>£62</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>All UC claims</p></td><td><p>6,400,000</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Table 2: Number of households with a Universal Credit Claim subject to at least fraud penalty; the number of households with a fraud penalty as a proportion of all universal credit households; what the total sum of fraud penalties was; the average fraud penalty, in the 2022-23 financial year.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><p>Table 2</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Number of distinct UC claims in the 2022-23 Financial Year</p></td><td><p>Number of households with at least one fraud penalty in the 2022-23 Financial Year</p></td><td><p>Households with at least one fraud penalty as a proportion of all UC households</p></td><td><p>Total amount of Fraud Penalties across the 22/23 financial year</p></td><td><p>Average Fraud Penalty Amount for those households with a fraud penalty</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>6,400,000</p></td><td><p>330</p></td><td><p>0.01%</p></td><td><p>£65,000</p></td><td><p>£200</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><p>1. Average deduction amounts have been rounded to the nearest £1 and proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. Fraud penalty reduction amounts are rounded to nearest £10 and proportions to the nearest 0.01 percentage point.</p><p>2. Deductions include advance repayments, third party deductions and all other deductions, but exclude sanctions and fraud penalties which are reductions of benefit rather than deductions.</p><p>3. &quot;Advances&quot; include all four UC advance types: New Claim, Benefit Transfer, Budgeting and Change of Circumstances.</p><p>4. The table includes the number of distinct Universal Credit households subject to a deduction in the period 2022-2023. Any household with deductions in more than one assessment period within the period requested will only be counted once. Where a household has multiple deductions in the same assessment period, these figures provide the total of all deductions taken.</p><p>5. The table includes the number of distinct Universal Credit households subject to a fraud penalty in the period 2022-2023. Any household with fraud penalty in more than one assessment period within the period requested will only be counted once. Where a household has multiple fraud penalties in the same assessment period, these figures provide the total of all fraud penalties taken.</p><p>6. Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.</p><p>7. This method for calculating the proportion is different to the usual reported figure which looks at a given month and historically has been around 45% for all UC households. See PQ UIN: <a href="https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2023-10-17/203044" target="_blank">203044.</a></p><p>8. Households could have more than one deduction type so adding claims by deduction type may not sum to the total of all deductions.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Information on 2) reductions due to sanctions is provided below</p><p> </p><p>Monthly statistics for April 2022 to March 2023, on the number of Universal Credit full service claimants with a payment that has been reduced due to a sanction, are published on Stat-Xplore, and are shown in the following table.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td colspan="4"><p>UC claimants in conditionality regimes where sanctions can be applied by month and sanction indicator from April 2022 to March 2023</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Sanction indicator</p></td><td><p>Yes</p></td><td><p>No</p></td><td><p>Total</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>April 2022</p></td><td><p>106,172</p></td><td><p>5,439,955</p></td><td><p>5,546,129</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>May 2022</p></td><td><p>108,969</p></td><td><p>5,432,866</p></td><td><p>5,541,837</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>June 2022</p></td><td><p>110,438</p></td><td><p>5,450,340</p></td><td><p>5,560,774</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>July 2022</p></td><td><p>117,527</p></td><td><p>5,502,514</p></td><td><p>5,620,041</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>August 2022</p></td><td><p>114,874</p></td><td><p>5,546,078</p></td><td><p>5,660,952</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>September 2022</p></td><td><p>117,671</p></td><td><p>5,566,557</p></td><td><p>5,684,229</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>October 2022</p></td><td><p>122,293</p></td><td><p>5,608,895</p></td><td><p>5,731,191</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>November 2022</p></td><td><p>117,397</p></td><td><p>5,639,386</p></td><td><p>5,756,783</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>December 2022</p></td><td><p>119,744</p></td><td><p>5,660,360</p></td><td><p>5,780,103</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>January 2023</p></td><td><p>118,395</p></td><td><p>5,681,209</p></td><td><p>5,799,601</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>February 2023</p></td><td><p>113,352</p></td><td><p>5,722,976</p></td><td><p>5,836,324</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>March 2023</p></td><td><p>120,086</p></td><td><p>5,733,100</p></td><td><p>5,853,189</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Source: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">Stat-Xplore</a>, Department for Work and Pensions</p><p>Notes:</p><ol><li>The sanction indicator for claimants can take the following values: Yes - Claimants payment is being reduced due to a sanction; No - Claimants payment is not being reduced due to a sanction.</li><li>Statistical disclosure control has been applied to this table to avoid the release of confidential data. Totals may not sum due to the disclosure control applied.</li><li>Statistics for Universal Credit Sanctions relate to the second Thursday of each month.</li><li>These statistics include those sanctions which subsequently go on to be overturned. Claimants whose sanction is overturned will be repaid any deduction.</li></ol><p> </p><p>The information requested for average and total amount of benefit reduced due to sanction is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p><p> </p><p>Information for part 3) suspensions is not readily available and to provide these would be at disproportionate cost.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 31/01/2024 16:03:09 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4130 label Biography information for Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick

1668690

	registered interest
	date	08/11/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of Universal Credit claimants met with a dedicated work coach in 2023 under the In-Work Progression Offer.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
	uin	HL141
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/11/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to supporting individuals who are in low paid work to progress, helping them increase their earnings and move into better paid quality jobs. Universal Credit seeks to ensure that claimants are better off working more hours and earning more money, helping them ultimately to become financially independent.</p><p> </p><p>Universal Credit claimants who earn below the Administrative Earnings Threshold (AET) of £677 for an individual and £1083 for a couple are placed within the Universal Credit Intensive Work Search (IWS) labour market regime. This means they receive mandatory support from a work coach and must look for and take up more or better-paid work, as well as attend regular meetings with their work coach.</p><p> </p><p>Currently information regarding the proportion of Universal Credit claimants that met with a dedicated work coach in 2023 is not available, as data on work coach appointments is not currently recorded in a way that would allow this to be measured.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 22/11/2023 18:00:11 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	3703 label Biography information for Baroness Royall of Blaisdon

1612583

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many claimants currently receiving Universal Credit are (1) self-employed, (2) employed, and (3) unemployed.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL7257
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/05/2023 answer text <p>The total number of self-employed Universal Credit claimants in January 2023 was 493,300. This has been rounded to the nearest 100.</p><p> </p><p>The latest statistics published monthly on Stat-Xplore show that, from the 5.8 million people on Universal Credit in February 2023, 2.2 million were in employment and 3.6 million were not in employment.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 04/05/2023 15:46:40 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1612584

	registered interest
	date	19/04/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many claimants currently receiving Universal Credit who are in employment or self-employment are earning (1) under £12,570 a year, (2) between £12,571 and £25,000 a year, (3) between £25,001 and £35,000 a year, (4) between £35,001 and £50,000 a year, and (5) over £50,000 a year.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Altmann
	uin	HL7258
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/05/2023 answer text <p>Universal Credit is designed to reduce as household earnings increase, so the number of high income households receiving UC would likely be very small. The level at which entitlement ends will differ depending on individual circumstances and other unearned income.</p><p> </p><p>As earnings information is only available at household level this has been provided below</p><p> </p><p>In January 2023 there were:</p><ul><li>2,610,500 households with no take home pay</li><li>974,000 households with monthly take home pay between £0 - £1048</li><li>662,500 households with monthly take home pay between £1048 - £2084</li><li>121,600 households with monthly take home pay between £2084 - £2917</li><li>29,400 households with monthly take home pay between £2917 - £4167</li><li>1,300 households with monthly take home pay greater than £4167.</li></ul><p> </p><p>Notes:</p><ol><li>The figures provided are monthly equivalents of the annual incomes specified in the question.</li><li>These figures have been rounded to the nearest 100</li></ol> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 09/05/2023 16:15:39 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4533 label Biography information for Baroness Altmann

1605373

	registered interest
	date	20/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the statement in the Spring Budget 2023 factsheet – Labour Market Measures that over 700,000 lead carers of children in receipt of Universal Credit will be made to look for work or increase the number of hours they work, what is their estimate of how this number will be broken down by (1) age of youngest child, and (2) by lone parent/other; and what additional work-related requirements will be applied to such claimants.
	tabling member printed	Baroness Lister of Burtersett
	uin	HL6635
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/04/2023 answer text <p>The information requested is provided in the tables below.</p><p> </p><p>1) Estimate of the proportion of lead carers broken down by age of youngest child</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Age of youngest child</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>1</p></td><td><p>14%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2</p></td><td><p>12%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>3</p></td><td><p>11%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>4</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>5</p></td><td><p>10%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>6</p></td><td><p>9%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>7</p></td><td><p>8%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>8</p></td><td><p>7%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>9</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>10</p></td><td><p>6%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>11</p></td><td><p>5%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>12</p></td><td><p>4%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>2) Estimate of the proportion of lead carers broken down by family type</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Family Type</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Proportion</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Single, with children</p></td><td><p>70%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Couple, with children</p></td><td><p>30%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Caveats &amp; Data Definitions:</p><ul><li>We do not hold data that explicitly identifies lead carers, as a result, figures are estimated assuming that if one member of the household has age of youngest child as required, and is in the relevant conditionality regime, then they are a “lead carer”.</li><li>Universal Credit conditionality regimes included are Intensive Work Search, Working with requirements, Planning for work and Preparing for work</li><li>Based on average volumes 2022/23</li><li>Based on internal Universal Credit Household dataset</li></ul><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Lead carers of children aged 1-2 will be required to have regular work focussed conversations with a dedicated Jobcentre work coach more often.</p><p> </p><p>For lead carers of children aged 2, work coaches can offer claimants more support with work preparation activities such as, job readiness workshops; help with developing a CV; practicing interviewing skills; skills assessment; participating in training or employment programme.</p><p> </p><p>Lead carers of children aged 3-12 will be supported by their work coach to increase their work search and preparation activity and will be required to be available for higher paid or longer hours jobs to align with Department for Education’s 30hr free childcare offer.</p><p> </p><p>Work search activities could include carrying out work searches, making job applications and creating and maintaining online job profiles. The requirements will be tailored to a claimant’s circumstances (e.g., location of job, claimant eligibility for free childcare provision, availability and location of childcare provision, and transport).</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/04/2023 15:35:10 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4234 label Biography information for Baroness Lister of Burtersett

1603006

	registered interest
	date	09/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Trussell Trust report An Essentials Guarantee: Reforming Universal Credit to ensure we can all afford the essentials in hard times, published on 27 February, what assessment they made of the recommendation contained in that report to "introduce an Essentials Guarantee" to ensure those on Universal Credit are not going without essential items.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL6307
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/03/2023 answer text <p>The Government is committed to a sustainable, long-term approach to tackling poverty and supporting people on lower incomes.  As seen in measures announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement, the Government have committed to a series of measures to ensure support for UK citizens. Raising the Universal Credit award by 10.1% to bring rates in-line with national inflation and ensure claimants are supported.</p><p> </p><p>The current rates of income-related benefits such as Universal Credit do not represent a minimum requirement, and are not described as such in legislation or Government literature. The Government specifies the rates which are applicable to different benefits, and these may vary according to claimants' circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>There is no objective way of deciding what an adequate level of benefit should be as every person has different requirements. Income-related benefit rates are not made up of separate amounts for specific items of expenditure such as food or fuel charges, and beneficiaries are free to spend their benefit as they see fit, in the light of their individual commitments, needs and preferences.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living, which is why, in addition to the £37 billion of support we have provided for cost-of-living pressures in 2022/23, we are acting now to ensure support continues throughout 2023/24.</p><p> </p><p>We will be delivering further cost of living payments, worth up to £900 for claimants on means-tested benefits, £300 for pensioner households and £150 for those on disability benefits.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 23/03/2023 11:33:44 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1602176

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report An Essentials Guarantee: Reforming Universal Credit to ensure we can all afford the essentials in hard times, published on 27 February, which found that "95 per cent of people on Universal Credit facing debt deductions are going without essentials", what steps they are taking to prevent debt from being (1) generated, and (2) sustained, in the social security system.
	tabling member printed	The Lord Bishop of Durham
	uin	HL6188
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2023 answer text <p>The DWP takes significant steps to ensure the accuracy of all benefit payments, and figures released in May 2022 showed the overwhelming majority of benefit, nearly 95%, was paid correctly. There are a number of measures in place to minimise the risk of debt, such as a quality checking regime and the use of HMRC’s Real Time Information.</p><p> </p><p>Where errors do occur with UC payments, the DWP takes steps to detect them at the earliest opportunity. Where debt does arise, and a person feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of recovery, they are encouraged to contact the DWP. When they do, we work with them to review their financial circumstances and, in most instances, agree a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment.</p><p> </p><p>We remain committed to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Breathing Space policy, which provides those with problem debt (where applicable) the right to legal protections from creditor action for a period of 60 days.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 21/03/2023 15:02:19 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	4312 label Biography information for The Lord Bishop of Durham

1602180

	registered interest
	date	07/03/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many Universal Credit claimants received (1) £10–19 per week, (2) £20–£29 per week, (3) £30–39 per week, (4) £40–£49 per week, (5) £50–£59 per week, (6) £60–£69 per week, (7) £70–£79 per week, (8) £80–£89 per week, (9) £90–£99 per week, (10) £100–£109 per week, (11) £110–£119 per week, (12) £120–£129 per week, (13) £130–£139 per week, (14) £140–£149 per week, and (15) £150 and above per week, in the latest period for which figures are available.
	tabling member printed	Lord Field of Birkenhead
	uin	HL6192
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 21/03/2023 answer text <p>Universal Credit is paid to households monthly and the official statistics, including the amounts paid per month, are published every three months on Stat-Xplore. The latest statistics are in the following table.</p><p> </p><p><strong>Table 1: Number of Households in receipt of Universal Credit, by monthly payment amount, in November 2022.</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Payment Amount</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Number of Households</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Less than £40</p></td><td><p>72,857</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£40 - £79.99</p></td><td><p>53,878</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£80 - £119.99</p></td><td><p>63,360</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£120 - £159.99</p></td><td><p>73,342</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£160 - £199.99</p></td><td><p>77,612</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£200 - £239.99</p></td><td><p>100,586</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£240 - £279.99</p></td><td><p>224,528</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£280 - £319.99</p></td><td><p>136,853</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£320 - £359.99</p></td><td><p>203,224</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£360 - £399.99</p></td><td><p>67,924</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£400 - £439.99</p></td><td><p>74,063</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£440 - £479.99</p></td><td><p>85,036</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£480 - £519.99</p></td><td><p>111,719</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£520 - £559.99</p></td><td><p>103,904</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£560 - £599.99</p></td><td><p>130,586</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>£600 or more</p></td><td><p>2,747,768</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Total</p></td><td><p>4,327,245</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p><strong>Source:</strong> <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">Stat-Xplore</a> – Households on Universal Credit</p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes: </strong></p><ol><li>Statistical disclosure control has been applied to these figures to avoid the release of confidential data. Totals may not sum due to the disclosure control applied.</li><li>These figures do not include households with a nil award. Households may not be in payment if, for example, earnings for the period are sufficiently high that the taper rate reduces their entitlement to £0.</li><li>These figures are provisional and will be subject to revision. It is expected that overall provisional figures will be within two per cent of their revised figure in future releases.</li><li>Monthly award amounts include any awards due to entitlement such as the standard allowance or housing entitlement plus any advance payments. Advance payments will normally be recovered during subsequent assessment periods.</li></ol> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 21/03/2023 14:59:09 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead

1587278

	registered interest
	date	20/02/2023
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Universal Credit
	house id	2
	legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
	question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many universal credit claims were subject to deductions in the most recent month for which data are available, broken down by parliamentary constituency; how much was the (1) total, and (2) average, sum of deductions in each constituency; and what proportion of those sums was deducted to repay advance payments.
	tabling member printed	Lord Field of Birkenhead
	uin	HL5652
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 03/03/2023 answer text <p>The Government recognises the importance of supporting the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. We seek to balance recovery of debt against not causing hardship for claimants and their families. Processes are in place to ensure deductions are manageable, and customers can contact the DWP Debt Management Team if they are experiencing financial hardship, to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment, or a temporary suspension, depending on their financial circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Since April 2021, we have reduced the normal maximum rate of deductions in Universal Credit from 40% to 25% of a claimant’s Standard Allowance. These positive measures were put in place to support claimants to manage financial difficulties.</p><p> </p><p>Advances are a claimant’s benefit entitlement paid early, allowing claimants to access 100% of their estimated Universal Credit payment upfront. They ensure nobody has to wait for a payment in Universal Credit, and those who need it are able to receive financial support as soon as possible. Claimants can receive up to 100% of their estimated Universal Credit award if required, resulting in 25 payments over a 24-month period. This is not a debt.</p><p> </p><p>The requested analysis of Universal Credit claims with a deduction in November 2022 by parliamentary constituency in Great Britain (GB) is provided in the separate spreadsheet.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 03/03/2023 13:26:17 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie attachment 1 file name Spreadsheet.xls title Spreadsheet HL5652
	tabling member	478 label Biography information for Lord Field of Birkenhead