Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Information Commissioner's Office's criticisms of Department for Work and Pensions' (DWP) policy on Universal Credit representative recognition, what plans they have to revise guidance to DWP staff and others so as to enable effective communications between Universal Credit claimants' advisers and that Department.

We have had a number of workshops with stakeholders during which consent has been discussed, and we plan to do further work. This will include working with claimants and their representatives to ensure the process works effectively for vulnerable claimants to access the service.