Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the paper entitled Tackling misconceptions and improving the reputation of universal credit, presented to Universal Credit Programme Board by officials on 14 May 2019, whether that Board received a paper following the Advertising Standards Authority’s investigation which found the adverts in The Metro to be exaggerated and misleading and ordered that they should not be published again; and what steps the Board took following that investigation.

The independent BBC documentary and the campaign work with the Metro was very successful in improving people’s understanding of Universal Credit, achieving its objectives, and therefore we did not need a further paper.

The high profile ‘Universal Credit Uncovered’ Metro partnership was a key element of the Department’s strategy to tackle negative perceptions and Universal Credit misinformation that were affecting claimant understanding. The Department went to great lengths to ensure factual accuracy by consulting extensively with the ASA throughout the campaign, which was clearly identifiable as an advertising feature from DWP.

The Department was disappointed with the ASA findings; however, to ensure the Department continues to adhere to the highest standards of advertising across all DWP campaigns, a number of steps have been taken. This includes regular senior and operational level engagement with the ASA and their Copy Advice Team on campaign development, combined with internal training sessions on ASA guidelines.