Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps the Government is taking to enable people in low-paid professions to move into positions with a higher salary.

Universal Credit provides us, for the first time, with the opportunity to help people who are in low-paid work to progress. This is the first time that any country has made a significant commitment to supporting people through the welfare system to seek to increase their earnings in work. We are currently at the stage of testing a range of approaches to provide evidence for the development of our future in-work policy. This involves work with individuals – including a large-scale Randomised Control Trial delivered by Jobcentre Plus – and with employers, who play a central role.