Recommendation 52

The monthly assessment is a core part of design of Universal Credit for the Department and is the guiding reason behind the five-week wait and payment in arrears. Although the Department says that most people in the wider economy are paid monthly, there is evidence that a significant proportion of people moving onto Universal Credit were paid weekly or fortnightly in their previous job. Even for people who are paid monthly, the recent High Court and Court of Appeal cases which found against DWP show that a rigid assessment still causes fluctuations for claimants, financially disadvantages people and, in some cases, puts people off applying for more stable work. But changing the monthly assessment period would entail a fundamental rebuilding of the entire Universal Credit system. That is not likely to be feasible in the short or even medium term. In the longer term, we would encourage the Department to consider in detail the proposals that have been made for systems that could more flexibly meet claimants’ needs—especially for people who are not paid monthly.