Recommendation 46

We recommend that the Department publishes the guidance given to Work Coaches when they advise people on APAs, to improve transparency in the process. The Department should make clear when and how a claimant is made aware of APAs both during their Universal Credit application and once they start receiving their payments. The Department should publish the rates at which people are unsuccessful in their applications for an Alternative Payment Arrangements, and what reasons the Department might give a claimant if it denies their request for more frequent payments. DWP should also ensure that work coaches are making claimants aware of the option of split payments, where a household’s payment can be divided and paid into two separate accounts.