Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Grady Excerpts

Monday 7th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Justin Tomlinson]

This Government are spending an additional £9 billion per year—a record high of £55 billion—supporting those with disabilities and long-term health conditions. The universal credit rate for the most severely disabled is more than double the equivalent employment and support allowance group rate, at £336.20, compared with a legacy payment of just £167.05.

[Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)]

4. What assessment she has made of the effect of transferring to universal credit on households’ levels of financial resilience.

[Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP)]

14. What assessment she has made of the effect of transferring to universal credit on households’ levels of financial resilience.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Guy Opperman)]

Universal credit ensures that support goes to those who need it, allowing 700,000 more people to receive benefits than did previously—this is worth approximately an extra £2.4 billion. Those who move to UC from legacy benefits and whose circumstances remain the same will be eligible for protection of their entitlement at the point of transition.

[Patrick Grady]

This is Challenge Poverty Week, and plenty of people are challenged by UC. They face what Citizens Advice Scotland describes as an “acute dilemma” between enforced hardship for five weeks, while there is no income whatsoever, and ongoing hardship if they choose to take out a loan and have to face reduced monthly payments while they pay back that loan for the first five weeks.

[Guy Opperman]

The situation is that this is an assessment period and no one has to wait to receive a UC payment; an advance of up to 100% is available to those in need, and significant funding has gone to Citizens Advice Scotland.