Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what instructions are given to staff working on the universal credit enquiry lines on protocols concerning the disclosure of personal data to third parties who have implicit consent from the claimant.

In Universal Credit Live service, as the claimant does not have access to the claim information themselves via an online account, we have implied consent arrangements in place so that someone can act on a claimants behalf. In Universal Credit Full Service, the online account allows claimant’s access to their information - a claimant can specify explicit consent at any time via the online account or on the phone, so an advocate can enquire on their behalf. Instructions to operational staff reflect these arrangements.