Universal Credit

(asked on 1st April 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential (a) cost to the public purse and (b) benefits of universal credit claimants receiving an up-front payment after making a valid claim for universal credit.


Answered by
Alok Sharma Portrait
Alok Sharma
COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
This question was answered on 4th April 2019

The Department is committed to ensuring that Universal Credit works for all claimants. We listen to the concerns and views of organisations and individuals and have delivered improvements to better support claimants, and will continue to do so.

New claimants can apply for a Universal Credit new claim advance, worth up to 100 per cent of a claimant’s indicative award, and are available up front, if there is a need. Advances are paid back over a period of 12 months and in the Autumn Budget 2018, we announced that from October 2021, the payback period for these advances will be extended further, up to 16 months.

This is just one of a number of measures the Department has put in place to support claimants such as paying those claimants moving from Housing Benefit onto Universal Credit a two week ‘transitional housing payment’. We are also introducing a two-week run on for eligible claimants of Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance from July 2020.

Reticulating Splines