Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 16 October 2023 to Question 199738 on Universal Credit: Disqualification, for what reason information on the number of children living in households subject to a Universal Credit sanction is not readily available.

The Department records information on the number of children living in Universal Credit households and these are published every three months as part of the official Universal Credit statistics (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/universal-credit-statistics). The Department also records information on the number of people who have received a sanction on Universal Credit, and these are published every three months as part of the official Benefit Sanctions Statistics (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/jobseekers-allowance-sanctions). These statistics are produced using different methodologies and it is not possible to provide appropriately quality assured statistics within the disproportionate cost limit.