Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many veterans were claiming universal credit in the Stevenage constituency in the latest period for which data is available.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.

Data coverage continues to improve over time and by November 2024 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 78% of the GB UC caseload. It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past.

Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.

The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded may not be representative of the UC caseload as a whole. This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past.

For the purposes of answering these questions, “veterans” has been interpreted as referring to those who have declared having served in the past.

The number of claimants who have identified themselves as veterans in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 50.

The housing element of Universal Credit is paid to the claimant household rather than individuals. The number of households receiving the housing element of Universal Credit, containing at least one claimant who has identified themselves as a veteran in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 40.

Similarly, the number of households receiving the housing element of Universal Credit, with a tenure type of the Private Rented Sector, containing at least one claimant who has identified themselves as a veteran in the Stevenage constituency as of November 2024 is: 10

1. Figures are for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland.

2. Figures in the table have been rounded to either the nearest ten, hundred, thousand or hundred thousand in line with Department’s Official Statistics rounding policy: Background information note: DWP benefits statistical summary - GOV.UK.

3. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/