Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of Universal Support in helping people who are not digitally literate to make an online claim for universal credit; and if she will make a statement.

The Department offers comprehensive support for claimants to use our digital service, but we recognise there will be occasions when people are unable to make and/or maintain their Universal Credit claim online, and so telephone and face to face support is available. In these instances, information normally available through a claimant’s online account, will be communicated in an alternative format which is best suited to an individual’s circumstances. The Help to Claim service, which replaced the previous “Universal Support” service was introduced on 1 April 2019 and is delivered by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland.

Help to Claim offers tailored, practical support to help people make their claim to Universal Credit and can work with claimants up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. It is available online, through a Freephone telephone number and face to face channels.

The Department is committed to ensuring that delivery of support services, such as Help to Claim, is carefully monitored and evaluated to provide effective support to our most vulnerable claimants, whilst ensuring value to taxpayers.