Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he has taken to mitigate the financial impact of Universal Credit deductions on (a) families with children and (b) other recipients.

The amount that can be deducted is capped and we have lowered the standard cap on deductions from Universal Credit twice over recent years, firstly from 40% to 30% in October 2019 and then to 25% in April 2021.

DWP takes every care to recover benefit debt without causing undue financial hardship.

Deductions are made under legislation and cover a broad range of contingencies, like the recovery of fines to prevent incarceration, the payment of rent arrears to prevent homelessness, child maintenance liabilities to their children, and provision for one-off items of expenditure through advances and the repayment of debts.

DWP remains committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their deductions and encourages customers to contact DWP to discuss any concerns.

The department has a well-established process for working with individuals to support them to manage repayment of debt. Our agents will always look to negotiate affordable and sustainable repayment plans. For overpayment deductions specifically, where a person feels they cannot afford the proposed rate of deduction for an overpayment recovery, they are encouraged to contact the department’s Debt Management to discuss a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment or cessation of the deduction.

There is no minimum amount that a customer has to pay, and we have recently extended the time period for any reduced payment to remain in place.

Customers who do contact Debt Management are routinely referred to the Money Advisor Network, who work in partnership with DWP, to offer free independent and impartial money and debt advice. We also remain committed to His Majesty’s Treasury’s Breathing Space policy, which provides those with problem debt the right to legal protections from creditor action for a period of 60 days to enable them to receive debt advice and enter into an appropriate debt solution.