Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent estimate her Department has made of the number of mixed-age couples who have been negatively affected by changes to universal credit.

Additional support to all claimants whatever their age, has been provided by the Autumn Budget 2017 and 2018 and will therefore not have any negative impact on mixed-aged couples claiming Universal Credit.

Following Autumn Budget 2017, the Department has introduced a range of measures to support claimants and ensure no one has to experience hardship within the initial assessment period, these include: making advances more generous, removing the 7 waiting days; providing an additional transitional payment of 2 weeks of Housing Benefit; and changing how claimants in temporary accommodation receive support for their housing costs.

Measures introduced at Autumn Budget 2018 will provide further assistance for claimants over the next few years. These include reducing, from October 2019, the maximum rate at which deductions can be made from a Universal Credit award from 40% to 30% of the standard allowance, with the period over which these recoveries are made extended from 12 to 16 months in October 2021. Payment of Income Support and the income related elements of Employment and Support Allowance and Jobseeker’s Allowance will continue for two weeks after a claim for Universal Credit has been made, effective from July 2020, benefitting 1.1 million households. Additionally, from April 2019, there will be a £1000 increase in work allowances from April 2019, which will provide a £630 boost for households with children, and for people with disabilities.