Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the difference in the number of short-term benefit allowance payments in 2013-14 and the number of crisis loan alignment payments in each of the previous six years.

It is not possible to compare the number of Short Term Benefit Advance (STBA) payments with the number of Crisis Loan alignment payments as there are a number of key differences in the respective rules and processes.