Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it here policy to grant transitional protection payments to claimants on legacy benefits that receive a lower benefits payment for applying for universal credit during the covid-19 pandemic.
Where someone’s circumstances change significantly it’s right that we reassess their benefit entitlement. A claimant making a new claim due to changes in their circumstances has always been likely to receive a different level of entitlement than they had had on their previous benefit.
As these claimants’ circumstances will have changed, it would be not possible to make a meaningful comparison between their previous level of entitlement to legacy benefits and their entitlement to Universal Credit.