Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what procedures her Department has in place for when a claimant requests weekly rather than monthly payments of benefits; what advice her Department issues on whether claimants should be informed that they can request weekly payments of benefits that would usually be paid monthly; how many and what proportion of such requests from claimants were (a) granted and (b) refused in each of the last five years.

The payment arrangements for Universal Credit are designed to mirror the world of work through a single monthly award.

Our staff works closely with claimants, ensuring they can identify any vulnerability, such as financial hardship, at an early stage; and tailor support according to their individual needs. This includes a conversation with every claimant to establish any financial or budgeting support required.

The Government recognises that the move to a single monthly household payment is a significant change for some claimants and where it is identified that a claimant is finding it difficult to budget monthly, it may be possible to have their Universal Credit divided over the month so it is paid more frequently, for example: twice monthly or, in exceptional circumstance, four times a month. These More Frequent Payments (MFP) are explained under the Alternative Payment Arrangements heading within ‘Universal Credit and You’ (paragraph 7.2), which is available to claimants via their online account.

Universal Credit and You can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-you/universal-credit-and-you-a

Around 2 per cent (20,000) of households on Universal Credit received a MFP in this way in June 2018, including those that have chosen to be paid more frequently via Universal Credit Scottish Choices.

These figures will be updated in the next release of households on Universal Credit, on 13 November 2018. We do not hold information on the type of MFP these households receive and do not hold data on the number of refused applications for MFP. Further information can be accessed at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-29-april-2013-to-9-august-2018#