Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the note on the cover report for the Universal Credit Programme Board’s meeting of 22 October 2019, what follow-up actions were agreed between the then Permanent Secretary of the Cabinet Office and the Director General of Universal Credit to tackle the difficulties faced by vulnerable claimants when moving onto Universal Credit.

The Prime Minister’s Implementation Unit (PMIU) conducted a deep dive on the effectiveness of support for vulnerable Universal Credit (UC) claimants. DWP and PMIU worked together to consider these findings in detail.

Following a suspension during the response to the pandemic, this work is continuing on further improvements to the customer journey, especially for vulnerable claimants. This includes having established a new Customer Experience Directorate to ensure that the Department has the services and tools in place to help the most vulnerable.