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1173675
registered interest false more like this
date less than 2020-01-27more like thismore than 2020-01-27
answering body
Department for Work and Pensions more like this
answering dept id 29 more like this
answering dept short name Work and Pensions more like this
answering dept sort name Work and Pensions more like this
hansard heading Universal Credit more like this
house id 1 more like this
legislature
25259
pref label House of Commons more like this
question text To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the five-week wait for a first payment of universal credit on levels of poverty. more like this
tabling member constituency Airdrie and Shotts more like this
tabling member printed
Neil Gray more like this
uin 8322 remove filter
answer
answer
is ministerial correction false more like this
date of answer less than 2020-01-30more like thismore than 2020-01-30
answer text <p>No one has to wait five weeks for their first payment of Universal Credit. New claim advances are available to support those in financial need until their first payment is made. The Department has learnt from where we did not get things right in the past in the legacy benefit system. Too often, the desire to pay quickly meant claimants not receiving their correct entitlement as we did not have an appropriate timeframe to review household circumstances.</p><p> </p><p>Claimants can access up to 100% of the total expected monthly award, which they can pay back over a period of up to 12 months. We have announced that from October 2021, the repayment period for these advances will be extended further, to 16 months. Proposed repayments of the advance are explained, and all claimants are advised to request a level of advance which is manageable both now and when considering the repayments required.</p><p> </p><p>The best way to help people improve their lives is through employment. Households where all adults are in work are around 6 times less likely to be in relative poverty than adults in a household where nobody works. This improves further if all the adults are working full time, reducing a child’s risk of being in poverty from 66% for (two-parent) families with only part-time work to 7%. Universal Credit allows households the freedom from the ‘cliff edges’ which featured in the legacy benefits system, where money was lost when working more than 16, 24 or 30 hours.</p><p> </p><p>There are many reasons people use foodbanks and their growth cannot be linked to a single cause. We have listened to feedback on how we can support our Universal Credit claimants and acted quickly, making improvements such as removing waiting days and introducing housing benefit run on. These changes are giving support to vulnerable people who need it most, whilst at the same time helping people get into work faster.</p>
answering member constituency Colchester more like this
answering member printed Will Quince more like this
grouped question UIN
8327 more like this
8329 more like this
question first answered
less than 2020-01-30T12:24:46.07Zmore like thismore than 2020-01-30T12:24:46.07Z
answering member
4423
label Biography information for Will Quince more like this
tabling member
4365
label Biography information for Neil Gray more like this