Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether universal credit claimants who are in part-time work must in some circumstances continue to look for further work or face a sanction.

In Universal Credit there is a stronger link between people receiving benefit and meeting their responsibilities. This includes clear and sustained work-related obligations. Claimants are expected to take responsibility for meeting the conditionality requirements they have agreed and they will be supported by their Work Coach.

Universal Credit provides us with the opportunity to support people to progress, and we are building the evidence about what works through a series of trials. Our Randomised Control Trial (RCT) looks at whether Work Coach support and mandatory activity agreed with claimants can support progression.

Those on Universal Credit with earnings above the Administrative Earnings Threshold and who are not part of our Randomised Control Trial are not currently expected to undertake mandatory job search activity.

Universal Credit includes some claimants with very low earnings beneath the Administrative Earnings Threshold. Such claimants would be expected to undertake mandatory activity agreed in their Claimant Commitment.