Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many working households in receipt of tax credits will receive (a) a lower award and (b) no award at all, under the capital rules for universal credit.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

As announced on 7 June 2018, for claimants with capital exceeding £16,000 who are moved onto Universal Credit by the Department, any capital which exceeds the limit will be disregarded for 12 months, which means they are entitled to Universal Credit. This protection period for claimants is contingent on parliamentary approval of the required legislation.

Our most recent estimate for the number of tax credit claimants with capital in excess of £16,000 likely to be managed migrated, across Great Britain, is around 50,000. Analysis shows that approximately 80% of these are estimated to have capital over £20,000, with approximately 50% estimated to have capital greater than £40,000.