Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has conducted an evaluation into Work Coaches' tailoring of the Universal Credit Claimant Commitment for people with mental health problems.

The Department has not carried out an evaluation in this area. For claimants with a physical or mental impairment (including those with cognitive or learning difficulties) work coaches may agree to tailor the number of hours, type and location of work depending on the claimants’ impairment. In addition, work search and availability requirements must be lifted for certain periods of time to account for a period of sickness. Outside of these set periods, work coaches have the discretion to tailor requirements depending on what is reasonable based on the claimant’s health condition.