Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of (a) mandatory reconsiderations of and (b) appeals made by people claiming Universal Credit.

The department’s aim is to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey. We have made improvements to the decision-making process at both the first decision and the Mandatory Reconsideration stage, giving Decision Makers additional time to proactively contact claimants if they think additional evidence may support the claim, reducing the need to progress to appeal.

In addition, the department is working to improve feedback loops so that it can continue to learn from tribunals, with a view to improving decision-making across all stages of the claim journey.