Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the reasons for unsuccessful applications for universal credit.

Where claim closure is considered, a number of checks are conducted before claim closure is undertaken.

The assessment we have made of the Universal Credit Full Service claims that were declared in January 2019 is as follows: Applications were unsuccessful and closed prior to the first payment for a variety of reasons. These include ineligibility, nil entitlement, insufficient evidence, claim withdrawal and non-compliance with the Universal Credit process.

For claimants that need support with their Universal Credit application, the Citizen’s Advice Help to Claim service is available, offering tailored, practical support online, over the phone, and face-to-face.