Recommendation 33

Support organisations have expressed concern that DWP’s approach to data sharing and consent has had a detrimental effect on their ability to support vulnerable claimants. The Department now says it is exploring options for improving its model Universal Credit: the wait for a first payment 83 of explicit consent. We urge the Department to publish more detail about how this exploration is being progressed, including when the Department expects progress to be visible to observers and experienced by claimants. We echo the Social Security Advisory Committee’s recommendation that DWP should consider applying the implicit consent model to Universal Credit, or at least consider what improvements it can make to the model of explicit consent. More broadly, DWP should review its approach to how it works with people and organisations that support claimants, including support workers, housing associations and local authorities. (Paragraph 145) Payment timeliness