Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many sanctions have been applied to Universal Credit claimants in each month since the roll-out began.

I refer the noble Baroness to the answer I gave on 16 June 2015 to her Question number HL 402:

Baroness Lister of Burtersett :To ask Her Majesty’s Government: whether they have plans to publish statistics on sanctions imposed under the universal credit scheme as it is brought into effect.

Lord Freud: The Department published its strategy for releasing official statistics on Universal Credit in September 2013. As outlined in the strategy, officials are quality assuring data for Universal Credit and formulating a definitive list of what statistics will be provided in the future.

These statistics will be published in accordance with the relevant protocols in the Code of Practice for Official Statistics.