Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that 2023-24 Cost of Living payment for those on means-tested benefits will not exclude claimants whose Universal Credit payments have been reduced to a nil award as a result of a sanction.

We will be bringing forward legislation for the 23/24 Cost of Living Payments in due course.

Claimants who were sanctioned but still had an entitlement to a UC payment of at least 1p for an assessment period ending during the qualifying periods would have been eligible to receive a 2022/23 Cost of Living Payment. Sanctions are calculated with reference to the standard UC allowance only. We recognise many of the most vulnerable are those entitled to other elements in UC, such as housing or child costs. If a sanction is applied, claimants continue to receive these other elements and would remain eligible for Cost of Living Payments.

Those determined to have a UC nil award during the qualifying assessment period could be eligible for a 2022/23 Cost of Living Payment retrospectively if a sanction is successfully appealed, or if they are awarded a Hardship payment in the qualifying period.

98.9% of sanctions are for failing to attend a mandatory appointment at a Jobcentre, and can often be resolved quickly by claimants getting in touch with the Jobcentre and attending their next appointment. Hardship payments are available as a safeguard to claimants who demonstrate that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs (including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene) as a result of their sanction.