Universal Credit

Debate between Lord Leigh of Hurley and Lord Freud

Tuesday 7th July 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Leigh of Hurley]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the experience of those claiming Universal Credit.

[The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud) (Con)]

For those who are now claiming universal credit, the experience is a positive one. Work is clearly incentivised and as a result claimants look for work more actively, find work more quickly, stay in work longer and earn more. The system is simpler and easier to understand for claimants, those who advise them and departmental staff.

[Lord Leigh of Hurley (Con)]

I thank my noble friend the Minister for that Answer. What steps has he taken to protect the most vulnerable people encompassed by the system and those people who will be encompassed by it in the rollout?

[Lord Freud]

Clearly, as we roll out universal credit in the years to come, we will be pulling in people who are more vulnerable than the groups we are currently pulling in. We are looking to support them in a number of ways. That is one of the reasons why we are doing this careful rollout with a test-and-learn strategy. But the specific things we are looking at in this area are help with personal budgeting support and the development of universal support delivered locally, where we are in partnership with local authorities throughout the country. We are trialling that and the results will inform the future rollout.