Oral Answers to Questions

Giles Watling Excerpts

Monday 13th May 2019 Commons Chamber

[Will Quince]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question, but I gently point out that youth unemployment has halved under this Government.

[Giles Watling (Clacton) (Con)]

6. What steps her Department is taking to increase financial support for vulnerable universal credit claimants compared with the legacy system.

[Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)]

9. What steps her Department is taking to increase financial support for vulnerable universal credit claimants compared with the legacy system.

[The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Amber Rudd)]

Universal credit makes sure that payments reach those who need them most. Around 1 million disabled households will receive, on average, £100 more per month on universal credit than on the system it replaces. As a single system that integrates six legacy benefits, universal credit will enable 700,000 households to access approximately £2.4 billion of welfare that was previously unclaimed.

[Giles Watling]

I recently wrote to the Secretary of State about one of my constituents in Clacton and the severe disability premium. I set out in the letter how my constituent was moved on to universal credit in October but now says that she is £185 a month worse off. I know the draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019 will rectify her situation and provide a lump sum to cover the missed payments since she moved. This is welcome, but when does the Secretary of State expect the regulations to be voted on so they can become law, especially given the real need of some claimants now?

[Amber Rudd]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important matter on behalf of his constituent. As he will be aware, there has recently been a court judgment on the Universal Credit (Transitional Provisions) (SDP Gateway) Amendment Regulations 2019, and we will have to wait to consider it before I will be able to give him an update. I will come back to him on the earliest possible occasion, because I understand the concern his constituent must have on this matter.