Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 April 2016 to Question 33701, how much his Department has spent on contacting people likely to be affected by planned changes to the work allowance element of universal credit.

Copies of the communications claimants received have been placed in the House of Commons library (reference DEP2016-0302) and are available at the following link:

http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/business-papers/commons/deposited-papers/?fd=2016-03-11&search_term=Department+for+Work+and+Pensions&itemId=119004#toggle-302

The correspondence does not inform claimants of the availability of the Flexible Support Fund, however guidance for Work Coaches has been updated to remind them of the availability of the fund for those claimants affected by the changes to the Work Allowances.

The approximate cost to DWP of communicating the planned changes to the work allowances to Universal Credit claimants was £590,000.