Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of claimants of universal credit who have a deduction for housing rent arrears in the first month of their claim in the last month for which data is available.

The Government recognises the importance of safeguarding the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. Universal Credit already has procedures and regulations in place to protect claimants from excessive deductions. Last resort deductions can be applied to protect vulnerable claimants from eviction and/or having their gas, electricity and water cut off, by providing a last resort repayment method for arrears of these essential services. If a claimant is in financial difficulty as a result of the level of deductions being made, they can contact the Department to request that a reduction in their deductions be considered.

The latest available data is for eligible claims to UC Full Service that are due a payment in December 2018. Of those claims with a payment in December 2018 relating to the first month of their claim, 2% have a deduction to repay rent arrears. This equates to 3,000 claims.

Notes

• Rent arrears deductions are defined as arrears of rent and/or service charges relating to a rented property
• Figures for rent arrears deduction include only those claims with a non-zero rent arrears deduction.
• Figures rounded to nearest 1,000.