Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the implications for his policies on waiting times for (a) employment and support allowance, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) other out-of-work benefits are of the findings of the report, Financial insecurity, food insecurity and disability, published by the Trussell Trust in June 2017.

On 10^th July I met with the Trussell Trust to discuss their report.

Waiting days are an unpaid period at the start of a new claim to benefit, where a claimant has no entitlement to Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), but must continue to meet the relevant benefit conditions.

Not all claimants are required to serve waiting days. For example claimants who have a linking claim to another benefit within 13 weeks, JSA claimants under 18 and in severe hardship or ESA claimants who are terminally ill do not serve waiting days.

The fundamental principle behind the waiting days policy is that benefits are not intended to provide financial support for very brief periods, for example when someone is between jobs or during short periods of sickness.

The application of waiting days at the outset of a new claim means that more support can be targeted at initiatives to help move people off benefits and into work, for example, measures to improve the literacy and numeracy skills of claimants and provide more resources to support lone parents to return to employment.

JSA and ESA claimants are made aware that waiting days may apply when they make their new claim. This ensures that anyone suffering hardship can seek assistance as early as possible. Anyone who makes a new claim can apply for a Short Term Benefit Advance (STBA).

STBAs provide an advance of up to 60 per cent of the value of the first full benefit payment and are repaid through deductions from subsequent benefit payments. STBAs can provide a way to smooth the impact of extending waiting days across a longer period. The offer of a STBA is subject to checks to make sure that the claimant can afford the repayments.

There are similar arrangements for other out of work benefits where waiting days apply.