Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of universal credit claimants without access to the internet at home.

No such assessment has been made.

The Office for National Statistics statistical bulletin ‘Internet access – households and individuals, Great Britain: 2020’ reported that in January to February 2020, 96% of households in Great Britain had internet access. This can be accessed at:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/householdcharacteristics/homeinternetandsocialmediausage/bulletins/internetaccesshouseholdsandindividuals/2020

Our Universal Credit Claimant Survey found that 96 per cent of claimants have regular access to the internet. Of these, 9 in 10 claimants have access at home via a computer or through a mobile phone. This can be accessed at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-full-service-claimant-survey

From 12 April 2021 we restarted face to face services as we returned to our normal opening hours from 9am to 5pm for jobcentres in England and Wales. We will restart the same face to face service in Scotland from 26 April. All Jobcentre Plus offices across the country have Wi-Fi and computers available for claimants to access the internet.

For those claimants who are unable to access or use our digital services, there is assistance available to make and maintain their Universal Credit claim using the Freephone Universal Credit helpline.

Running alongside the national Jobcentre offer is Help to Claim, delivered by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland, providing people with assistance in making a Universal Credit claim. Help to Claim offers tailored, practical support to help people make their claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. It is widely available through a variety of channels, including by telephone and web chat.