Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to pages 8-11 of the report entitled Rough Justice, published by the Child Poverty Action Group in August 2018, what assessment she has made of the appropriateness of monthly assessments for the Work Allowance element of Universal Credit in circumstances in which a claimant receives their Universal Credit payment on the last working day of each month and receives their monthly pay from their employer twice within a single assessment period.

Universal Credit (UC) seeks to take earnings into account in a way that is fair and transparent. The amount of UC paid reflects, as closely as possible, the actual circumstances of a household each monthly assessment period, including any earnings reported by the employer during that assessment period, regardless of when they were paid or which month they relate to. Monthly reporting allows UC to be adjusted on a monthly basis, which ensures that if a claimant's income falls, that they will not have to wait several months for a rise in their UC award.