Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to prevent exceptional split payments of universal credit that require the disclosure of abuse.

We do not require formal disclosure of abuse to establish split payments for Universal Credit claimants, and we do not ask for any evidence relating to the abuse. An individual can be accompanied by a representative from a third party organisation to provide expert support when disclosing domestic abuse to a work coach.

All personal information is treated in confidence, and we do not disclose information to third parties without explicit consent. If requested, we can provide access to a private area where information can be disclosed.