Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when his Department first approached the Computer Electronics and Surveillance Group of GCHQ about security in the universal credit IT system.

Similarly to other Government Departments, DWP has a long history of working with GCHQ on issues of security as and when necessary.

Part of GCHQ, The Computer Electronics and Surveillance Group are the national lead for information assurance. The Department has been working with them from the start of Universal Credit design to develop the IT security of Universal Credit. We continue to work closely to ensure that all aspects of the system are appropriately secured.