Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to ensure that universal credit claimants know (a) during which months they should note Self-Employment Income Support Scheme income as income in their universal credit diaries and (b) how to record other SEISS information in those diaries.

We have provided guidance for claimants, including useful step-by-step process maps, on the Understanding Universal Credit website at https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/employment-and-benefits-support/self-employment/. It is also made very clear in a claimant’s journal that they should report SEISS payments as self-employed income when they are received, as normal, and an additional field in their journal has been provided for claimants to do this easily.

Additionally, internal guidance has been drafted and circulated to ensure our work coaches are aware of how to treat SEISS payments, along with other Coronavirus grants and schemes.