Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to support people who are affected by the gap between receiving existing benefit payments and receiving their first instalment of universal credit.

In order to manage this transition, claimants migrating from legacy benefits will be offered a Universal Credit Benefit Transfer Advance.

This is a one-off recoverable advance of 100 per cent of a claimant’s expected Universal Credit entitlement. Claimants are not required to demonstrate financial need in order to receive the advance and it is recovered in equal instalments, interest-free, over a period of up to twelve months through deductions in the claimant’s monthly award. Exceptionally, this period can also be extended by up to three months.

From April 2018, all claimants already receiving Housing Benefit will also receive two weeks worth of additional Housing Benefit payments at the beginning of their Universal Credit claim. This is in addition to their Universal Credit support for housing costs.