Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 6
Third Report: Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment
Published 19 Oct 2020
Paragraph 35
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
DWP should conduct or commission research, before the end of this financial year, to develop its understanding of the impact of Universal Credit, particularly the wait for the first payment, on the rising use of food banks; on claimants’ levels of rent arrears; and on claimants’ mental health and mental wellbeing. While the evidence we heard falls short of establishing a causal link between the wait and these experiences, that is no reason for the Department not to take these findings seriously. It should use them 78 Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment as a starting point for a concerted effort to understand the full impact of the wait for the first payment, and how this may differ for claimants who are moving to Universal Credit from legacy benefits and for those who are making entirely new claims. DWP should more thoroughly consider the evidence linking Universal Credit to increased use of food banks, rent arrears and psychological distress and should use this in its overall strategy for protecting claimants’ safety and wellbeing.
From: Work and Pensions Committee, Third Report: Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment (HC 204), paragraph 35, 19 October 2020
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 12 January 2021 (deadline 19 December 2020).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government notes the Committee's report and, in the sections summarised here, declines to adopt most of its main recommendations, saying that advances mean "No one has to wait five weeks for a payment".
- On research into the impact of the wait, the Department states that it "will not be conducting nor commissioning any research", saying resources were reallocated to the COVID-19 response.
- On a starter payment, the Government says there "is not a need for a starter payment in UC" because New Claim Advances are available, and cites increased fraud risk. It says it will "not be introducing" more frequent payments by default.
- On the deduction cap, it points to the lowering from 30% to 25% of the standard allowance, "effective from October 2021", and says further lowering "would not be an effective way to protect vulnerable claimants".
- It states that it "does not agree that monthly updates" on Work Coach recruitment are appropriate, but will ensure "relevant updates" are supplied to Parliament. It also reports a commitment to increase Work Coaches by 13,500 by end of March 2021.