Universal Credit

(asked on 18th November 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the estimated cost to the public purse is of the new periodic assessment regulations.


Answered by
Will Quince Portrait
Will Quince
This question was answered on 23rd November 2020

There is no change to the period of assessment for Universal Credit.

The Court of Appeal’s Judgment in the case of Johnson and others affects a small minority of claimants in very specific circumstances and the estimated cost is expected to be minimal. Those affected receive two calendar monthly payments of earnings in one assessment period and may lose out if they are entitled to a work allowance. We know that this issue can occur when a claimant’s monthly pay date and the last day of their assessment period are close together.

The legislation we laid on the 20th October, revises those arrangements and provides a remedy that satisfies the Court of Appeal Judgment in the case of Johnson and Others. This legislation came into force on 16th November and means that in future for cases affected by this issue, monthly earnings will be reallocated to another assessment period, which means that only one set of earnings will be taken into account rather than two, and certain claimants will be able to benefit from any applicable work allowance.

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