Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that welfare support is available to the most vulnerable people.

The government is committed to supporting vulnerable customers. This year we will spend around £79bn on benefits to support disabled people and people with health conditions around 3% of GDP. We are also committed to ensuring those who are entitled to benefit take it up. For this reason an extra £22 million investment was announced in March to extend free and impartial support through Help to Claim, delivered by Citizens Advice, to help people claim Universal Credit, and we are currently undertaking a campaign to increase the take-up of Pension Credit.

The department’s key obligation is to ensure that customers receive the correct benefit entitlement at the right time. We consider a customer’s particular circumstances to provide the right service or ensure appropriate support and can help direct our customers to the most appropriate body to meet their needs.

The department has appointed more than 30 Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders (ACSSLs) across Great Britain. Their role is to reach across local communities to underpin our relationships with other organisations that provide support to our customers.