Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what definition her Department uses to classify social security claimants as vulnerable; what method is used to identify those claimants; and how that information is recorded.

The Department does not identify or record claimants as ‘vulnerable’ or ‘not vulnerable’. However, we often need to consider a customer’s particular circumstances to provide the right service or ensure appropriate support. Where a staff member recognises that a customer has particular needs which should be flagged within their case file, they can do this by recording relevant information on the appropriate customer profile record. For example, in Universal Credit, complex needs information is recorded in profile notes within the claimant history.

In 2019 we created a central team in the Customer Experience Directorate who focus on supporting customers who require advanced support. We have also appointed over 30 regional Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders across Great Britain; their role is to provide targeted support to customers who most need it.