Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of (a) introducing a protected minimum floor for Universal Credit and (b) limiting the benefit cap so it cannot reduce the Standard Allowance by more than 15%.

No such assessment has been made. As part of the Universal Credit (UC) review, at the Autumn Budget the Chancellor announced the Fair Repayment Rate will be introduced from April 2025, reducing the UC deductions overall cap from 25% to 15%. This measure will help approximately 1.2 million of the poorest households benefit by an average of £420 a year.