Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit in Fife on provision of services for lone parents and disadvantaged families by (a) local authorities and (b) third sector organisations.

We have not made an assessment of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit in Fife on provision of services for lone parents and disadvantage families by Local Authorities and third party sector organisations.

We are committed to helping parents into work. Childcare is essential in enabling parents to work, although we recognise that this can cause additional financial difficulty.

Universal Credit claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70% on the legacy system. People with an offer of paid work can also get childcare costs paid a month in advance.

On 11 January 2019, Secretary of State Rt. Hon Amber Rudd MP announced measures that will provide increased support for Universal Credit (UC) claimants. This included piloting a more flexible approach to claimants reporting childcare costs, which will allow people to be reimbursed for childcare even when they aren’t able to provide immediate evidence.