Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of awarding universal credit to prisoners who are nearing completion of their sentence before they leave prison.

Prisoners are able to speak to a Department of Work and Pensions Work Coach shortly before release who is able to make an appointment at the relevant Job Centre as early as the day of release. Once the former prisoner attends the Job Centre to complete his claim, eligible prisoners can receive funds within hours.

Ministry of Justice officials are working with the Department of Work and Pensions to improve the process with the aim of enabling a claim in advance of release and will release more details in due course.