Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of monthly Universal Credit assessment periods on claimants; and whether she plans to review regulations to address circumstances in which two wage payments fall within a single assessment period.

The Government has recognised that, in some circumstances, customers who are paid calendar-monthly by the same employer may receive two salary payments within a single assessment period due to the interaction between their pay date and assessment period. The Universal Credit (Earned Income) Amendment Regulations 2020 provide for earnings to be reallocated in relevant cases so that awards more accurately reflect a customer’s normal monthly earnings pattern. In most cases this is an automated process.