Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 23
Third Report: Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment
Published 19 Oct 2020
Paragraph 111
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 has capped the deductions that claimants can face from their Universal Credit award at 30%, and yet in some circumstances, such as where a claimant has rent or fuel arrears, or benefit sanctions, DWP can deduct more than this amount. Nick Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment 81 Timmins has estimated that almost one in five of claimants see over 30% of their Universal Credit award deducted to pay off debts. DWP should ensure that claimants never face deductions in excess of the usual cap, and should use the data that it has on “last resort” deductions to help claimants tackle their debt problems without reducing their Universal Credit award further.
From: Work and Pensions Committee, Third Report: Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment (HC 204), paragraph 111, 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.