Oral Answers to Questions

Peter Aldous Excerpts

Monday 7th January 2019 Commons Chamber

[Mike Wood (Dudley South) (Con)]

10. What assessment the Government have made of the effectiveness of universal credit in helping people into work.

[Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)]

12. What assessment the Government have made of the effectiveness of universal credit in helping people into work.

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

There are many good reasons why universal credit is effective at helping people into work. The most important is that the legacy system disincentivised people from taking up work, often by applying a tax rate of 90% and above, while the taper rate under universal credit is more likely to be 63%, which enables people genuinely to get into work.

--- Later in debate ---

[Amber Rudd]

I thank my hon. Friend for drawing my attention to the good work being done by the Stourbridge jobcentre and its work coaches. He really highlights the other true benefit of universal credit, which is the personalised approach. It is no longer about signing on; it is about individuals going to the jobcentres and being offered real, tailored support to help them to deal with their challenges and to get into work. This is a revolutionary system.

[Peter Aldous]

Given that the planned objective of universal credit is to move people closer to and into the workplace, can the Secretary of State confirm that empirical, rather than anecdotal, evidence is being compiled on a national basis, and that it will be made available for public scrutiny so that the necessary adaptations can be made to ensure that universal credit ultimately achieves its goal?

[Amber Rudd]

My hon. Friend is right. Important though anecdotal evidence is—that is what MPs collect when they visit their job centres—it will also be absolutely critical to have full empirical evidence as well. In June last year, we published the universal credit full business case, which showed that universal credit will move more people into work. Once we have completed the managed migration pilot, we will also publish an impact assessment on the first phase.