Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to verify the ongoing residency of non-UK national claimants who have been absent from the UK for more than a month.

The Department uses the Habitual Residence Test (HRT) for income-related benefits, such as Universal Credit, to assess whether someone has a legal right to be here and whether they are factually resident in the UK. For an individual to be factually habitually resident they must have been present in the UK for an appreciable period, usually between one and three months, and have a settled intention to remain.