Oral Answers to Questions

Giles Watling Excerpts

Monday 2nd July 2018 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

We do not want anybody to be in distress. If colleagues on either side of the House have specific cases, they should bring them to Ministers. We hear a lot of general commentary, but we would like to help individuals, so please bring us those specific cases.

[Giles Watling (Clacton) (Con)]

9. What assessment her Department has made of rates of universal credit claimant satisfaction.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Ms Esther McVey)]

Some 83% universal credit claimants are satisfied with the service. The claimant survey shows that the majority of people find interactions with their work coach, both online and in person, to be helpful and that the online journal is easy to use.

[Giles Watling]

With universal credit due to be rolled out in Clacton later this month, will my right hon. Friend reassure me that, with recent changes to the system, my residents will get a better service?

[Ms McVey]

I want to recognise all the hard work that my hon. Friend does in his constituency. Yes, his constituents will get a better service now that we have added those changes. However, he does not have to take my words for it. Chloe, a lone parent, said: “Universal credit is easier than the old system, and it has helped me to get a job. It is simpler, as I do not have to keep putting my wage slips in. I can actually vary my wages and get paid automatically.”