Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the effect of the introduction of full service of universal credit on people that are self-employed.

Universal Credit encourages all claimants with a work expectation to find and progress in work. The Minimum Income Floor (MIF) is intended to encourage claimants to grow their monthly earnings to what they could expect to earn at minimum wage.

The 2018 Autumn Budget announced a 12 month exemption period from the MIF for all gainfully self-employed claimants new to Universal Credit or new to self-employment. We plan to introduce this from July 2019 with full implementation from September 2020. We will also continue with the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) scheme from April 2019 onwards. The NEA provides support and mentoring for benefit claimants who are looking to start or develop their business.

Plans are in place for an evaluation of the MIF and a large-scale tracking survey of self-employed Universal Credit claimants with a MIF applied to their claim.