Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure claimants of universal credit who receive a salary advance in December to cover the costs of Christmas do not have their eligibility for universal credit reduced as a result.

Where a claimant receives an advance on their earnings, including at Christmas, such advances are not taken into account as earnings for the period in which they are received. This also applies when the advance is repaid. This aligns with the treatment of such payments for tax purposes.