Social Security Benefits: Payments

(asked on 26th September 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what comparative assessment she has made of the average length of time for a claimant to receive their first (a) legacy benefit payment and (b) universal credit payment in the each of the last two years.


Answered by
Will Quince Portrait
Will Quince
This question was answered on 3rd October 2019

The design of Universal Credit is fundamentally different to legacy benefits, so any assessment would not reflect this adequately.

The Department published an assessment of legacy benefit and Universal Credit payment timeliness in its Annual Report and Accounts 2018-19. This showed that the speed of Universal Credit payments has continued to improve during its rollout and the Department continues to introduce improvements. Between February 2018 to February 2019 Universal Credit payment timeliness improved with 86% of new claims to Universal Credit receiving full payment on time in February 2019, an increase from 78% in February 2018.

Monthly assessment periods align to the way the majority of employees are paid, and how utility companies and other service providers collect payments. This allows Universal Credit to be adjusted each month, which means that if a claimant’s income falls they will not have to wait several months for a rise in their Universal Credit.

Overall, Universal Credit provides more tailored support, and makes it more financially rewarding to increase earnings when in employment compared to legacy benefits.

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