Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department takes to avoid errors in universal credit payments where the RTI data for a claimant is late, missing or incorrect.

DWP works closely with HMRC to avoid errors in universal credit payments where RTI data is late, missing or incorrect. UC is flexible in its design where RTI data is reported late and will be taken into account from the date DWP receives the notification of earnings, which may be later that the date the earnings are actually paid to the individual. When RTI is missing or incorrect we work closely with HMRC to identify these employers in order that HMRC can provide on-going support and education to reduce late, missing and incorrect data, and as a consequence, avoid errors in UC payments from an Labour Market Intelligence perspective.