Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether additional funding is available to local authorities to provide services to assist people with Universal Credit claims where those services are not available through Citizens Advice.

Help to Claim (HtC) was developed and delivered from 2019, and continues to be delivered by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland independently across England, Scotland, and Wales. A further £38m investment is planned for HtC for two years from April 2024.

HtC provides tailored practical support to anyone who needs it and it enables individuals requiring additional support to make and maintain their UC claim, up until their first correct UC payment. HtC supports customers through telephony and digital channels (including webchat). Where somebody is unable to make a digital UC Claim they will support that person to make a UC Claim by telephone. Those individuals who are unable to access support via these channels will be signposted to their local jobcentre, where staff will identify the right support to meet their needs, face-to-face.

Since April 2019, HtC has supported nearly 900,000 people.