Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of new claimants for universal credit received two weeks’ run-on housing benefit while waiting for their first payment (a) in the last six months and (b) in the last month for which information is available.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. However, since it was introduced in April 2018, all Housing Benefit claimants, whose Housing Benefit award was ended because of a new claim to Universal Credit, have been awarded the two-week Transition to Universal Credit Housing Payment.