Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are claiming Universal Credit as of 1 June 2022; and how many of those people have deductions from their Universal Credit in (a) the UK, (b) Wales and (c) Newport East constituency.

The Government recognises the importance of supporting the welfare of claimants who have incurred debt. We seek to balance recovery of debt against not causing hardship for claimants and their families. Processes are in place to ensure deductions are manageable, and in April 2021 we further reduced the cap on deductions from Universal Credit awards to 25% of a claimant’s Standard Allowance enabling them to retain more of the award

Protocols are in place to ensure deductions are manageable and customers can contact DWP Debt Management if they are experiencing financial hardship to discuss a reduction in their rate of repayment, or a temporary suspension, depending on financial circumstances.

The latest published statistics show, of the 4,728,957 households on Universal Credit, in February 2022, there were 2,100,800 UC households in Great Britain with a deduction; of these 107,700 were in Wales and 3,500 in the Newport East Constituency.