Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what total amount was taken from Universal Credit payments among households subject to a benefit deduction in (a) March 2020 to February 2021, (b) March 2021 to February 2022 and (c) March 2022 to February 2023.

The primary aim of the Universal Credit deductions policy is to protect vulnerable claimants by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of essential services. In recent years, the standard UC deduction cap has been reduced twice – from 40% to 30% of the Standard Allowance in October 2019, and down to 25% in April 2021.

The requested information is provided in the separate spreadsheet.