Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of whether the economic and fiscal benefits outlined in the Universal Credit Full Business Case Summary, published on 7 June 2018, have been delivered.

The performance of Universal Credit (UC) continues to be monitored as we proceed to complete the move to Universal Credit. As implementation of UC is not yet complete, it is not possible to carry out a full assessment of the 2018 Business Case.

Since first being introduced in 2013, Universal Credit (UC) has streamlined and simplified the benefits system to better support those in work on low incomes, as well as those who are unemployed or who cannot work. By improving work incentives and support, Universal Credit helped deliver the highest ever level of employment seen in this country just before COVID hit. A dynamic benefit that reflects people’s needs from month to month, Universal Credit successfully supported millions of people and processed a ten-fold surge in claims during the pandemic, when legacy systems would have collapsed.