Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of claimants of universal credit that were referred for investigation into fraud were referred after her Department introduced a requirement for claimants to attend a Jobcentre before applying for an advance payment.

From 18^th September 2019, claimants are required to attend an interview at a jobcentre to verify their identity before claiming a Universal Credit (UC) advance. This change is helping protect claimants from identity fraud and becoming victims of third party scams.

The staff referrals we have received for UC advances fraud since 18^th September 2019 equate to 6.3% of the total referrals received to date.

It is important to clarify that the majority of these referrals will relate to advance claims made prior to 18^th September 2019.