Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment has she made of the potential impact of not providing cost of living payments to Universal Credit claimants who have been sanctioned on trends in the level of excess deaths.

No assessment has been made by the Department for Work and Pensions of the potential impact of not providing Cost of Living Payments to Universal Credit claimants who have been sanctioned on trends in the level of excess deaths.

Claimants who are sanctioned but still have an entitlement to a payment of Universal Credit (UC) during the qualifying assessment period are eligible to receive a Cost of Living Payment. Sanctions are calculated with reference to the standard UC allowance only. We recognise some of the most vulnerable are those entitled to other elements in UC, such as housing or child costs. If a sanction is applied, claimants continue to receive these other elements.

If a sanction reduces a claimant’s Universal Credit to £0, a ‘nil award’, for the qualifying assessment period they are not entitled to receive a Cost of Living Payment. Those with a Universal Credit ‘nil award’ during the qualifying period who weren’t eligible could be entitled retrospectively if a sanction is successfully appealed and could still be entitled to the second Cost of Living payment.

98.9% of sanctions are for failing to attend a mandatory appointment at a Jobcentre, and can often be resolved quickly by claimants getting in touch with the Jobcentre and attending their next appointment. Hardship payments are available as a safeguard to claimants who demonstrate that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs (including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene) as a result of their sanction.

To support people who need additional help, from October 2022 the Government is providing an additional £500 million to help households with the cost of essentials, bringing the total funding for this support to £1.5 billion. The devolved administrations will subsequently receive £79 million through the Barnett Formula to spend at their discretion. The Scottish Government will receive £41m of this funding.

For further information please see Cost of Living Payment - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Please note that the Department for Work and Pensions do not hold data on excess deaths as this is the responsibility of the Office of National Statistics.