Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to (a) monitor and (b) assess the efficacy of universal support.

As Universal Credit rolls out, DWP’s District Partnership teams are talking to local partners about the needs of claimants, and the support that needs to be in place for them. They are also discussing how Universal Credit Assisted Digital Support and Personal Budgeting Support should operate in their locality, and how to ensure efficient operation and performance improvement.

Local authorities are working with us to continue to review their partnerships, to ensure the right support is available as Universal Credit continues to roll out and the service changes.

The then Secretary of State also announced on 23 November 2017, that we are exploring the scope for greater collaborative working with Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland to help claimants locally as they move to Universal Credit, which will include Universal Support.