Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect on the finances of claimants of making advance payments of universal Credit grants instead of loans.

A new system of grants could not be implemented without significant reprioritisation of current measures: our focus remains firmly on ensuring that millions of new and existing claimants continue to receive their payments on time, and that we do everything possible to support people back into work where it is right to do so.

We introduced measures that could be quickly and effectively operationalised following the outbreak of COVID-19, supported by over £6.5bn of additional funding to the welfare system and which benefitted as many disadvantaged claimants as possible. This includes temporarily increasing the Universal Credit standard allowance by the equivalent of £20 per week – worth up to £1,040 this year. This is in addition to the 1.7% inflation increase as part of the Government’s decision to end the benefits freeze and means more financial support for millions of claimants across the country.

Universal Credit advances allow new claimants to request additional support during the first assessment period. Advances can be repaid over a year, allowing new claimants to receive 13 payments during that period instead of 12.