Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 26 March 2018 to Question 134167 on Universal Credit: Scotland and with reference to the decision of the Scottish Parliament to amend the Social Security Bill to require the Scottish Government to bring forward regulations under s30 of the Scotland Act 2016 to give effect to automatic split payments, what work her Department plans to undertake to establish a timetable and cost its delivery.

This is a complex area of policy with many issues for the Scottish government to resolve. There are also some preparatory activities that are required, which will allow a process for safe delivery of this change to be constructed.

As any IT solution is likely to require significant re-engineering of the payment system at the heart of Universal Credit, which supports claimants across the UK, any aspirations for progress will ultimately need to be weighed against the risks and other priorities for development of the system. As a result we are not yet in a position to agree a timetable for the implementation of this change.