Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of universal credit claimants who applied for a budgeting advance (a) received the maximum available advance and (b) chose to repay over the maximum time period allowed.

A budgeting advance is available for one-off unexpected financial events for Universal Credit claimants and is repayable over a period of up to 12 monthly instalments. Claimants might be able to get help for things such as: emergency household costs, getting a job or staying in work or funeral costs.

Of the 485,000 budgeting advances created, between June 2015 and May 2019, 49% took the maximum entitlement and 78% chose to take the maximum repayment length.

From October 2021 we will be increasing the recovery period for advances from 12 to 16 months, further supporting those in financial need.

Notes

1. Figures relate to Universal Credit full service only

2. Figures relate to total number of budgeting advances since their introduction

3. Figures for the number of budgeting advances created is rounded to the nearest 1,000

4. Budgeting advances with a value of £348, £464 and £812 have been used for proportion of claimants receiving the maximum available advance, as these values relate to the maximum entitlement dependent on the claimant's circumstances.