Asked by: Lucy Rigby (Labour - Northampton North)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants were identified as (a) serving and (b) having served in the armed forces in each assessment period between July 2022 and June 2024.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.
Data coverage continues to improve over time and by June 2024 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 75% of the GB UC caseload (see table below). It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past.
Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.
The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded may not be representative of the UC caseload as a whole. This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past.
Increases in the numbers of claimants with a recorded status of “currently serving” or “served in the past” do not necessarily mean the overall numbers of claimants who are currently serving or have served in the past have increased and may reflect increases in the number of claimants for whom data is held as data coverage improves over time.
The table below shows how the proportion of the GB UC caseload with a recorded Armed Forces status has changed over time. It also shows how many claimants on the caseload had a recorded status of each type.
UC caseload month | Proportion of caseload with a recorded status | Currently serving | Served in the past | Not served | Prefer not to say | No recorded status | ||
July 2022 | 51% | 3,000 | 39,000 | 2,800,000 | 21,000 | 2,800,000 | ||
August 2022 | 53% | 3,200 | 40,000 | 2,900,000 | 22,000 | 2,700,000 | ||
September 2022 | 54% | 3,200 | 41,000 | 3,000,000 | 22,000 | 2,600,000 | ||
October 2022 | 56% | 3,300 | 43,000 | 3,100,000 | 23,000 | 2,500,000 | ||
November 2022 | 57% | 3,300 | 44,000 | 3,200,000 | 24,000 | 2,500,000 | ||
December 2022 | 58% | 3,400 | 45,000 | 3,300,000 | 25,000 | 2,400,000 | ||
January 2023 | 59% | 3,500 | 46,000 | 3,400,000 | 25,000 | 2,300,000 | ||
February 2023 | 61% | 3,500 | 48,000 | 3,500,000 | 26,000 | 2,300,000 | ||
March 2023 | 62% | 3,600 | 48,000 | 3,500,000 | 27,000 | 2,200,000 | ||
April 2023 | 63% | 3,700 | 50,000 | 3,600,000 | 28,000 | 2,200,000 | ||
May 2023 | 64% | 3,800 | 50,000 | 3,700,000 | 28,000 | 2,100,000 | ||
June 2023 | 65% | 3,900 | 51,000 | 3,800,000 | 29,000 | 2,100,000 | ||
July 2023 | 66% | 4,000 | 52,000 | 3,900,000 | 30,000 | 2,100,000 | ||
August 2023 | 66% | 4,000 | 53,000 | 3,900,000 | 30,000 | 2,000,000 | ||
September 2023 | 67% | 4,000 | 54,000 | 4,000,000 | 30,000 | 2,000,000 | ||
October 2023 | 68% | 3,900 | 54,000 | 4,100,000 | 30,000 | 2,000,000 | ||
November 2023 | 69% | 3,900 | 55,000 | 4,200,000 | 31,000 | 1,900,000 | ||
December 2023 | 70% | 3,900 | 57,000 | 4,300,000 | 31,000 | 1,900,000 | ||
January 2024 | 71% | 3,900 | 58,000 | 4,400,000 | 32,000 | 1,900,000 | ||
February 2024 | 72% | 4,000 | 59,000 | 4,500,000 | 32,000 | 1,800,000 | ||
March 2024 | 73% | 4,200 | 62,000 | 4,700,000 | 33,000 | 1,800,000 | ||
April 2024 | 73% | 4,200 | 63,000 | 4,800,000 | 34,000 | 1,800,000 | ||
May 2024 | 74% | 4,300 | 64,000 | 4,900,000 | 34,000 | 1,800,000 | ||
June 2024 | 75% | 4,500 | 65,000 | 5,000,000 | 35,000 | 1,700,000 | ||
Notes:
1. Figures are for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland.
2. Figures in the table have been rounded to either the nearest hundred, thousand or hundred thousand in line with Department’s Official Statistics rounding policy.
3. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/