Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that people do not incur extra costs, such as obtaining photographic identification, in order to complete Universal Credit applications.

If a claimant does not have photographic identification, staff are able to use a number of alternative identification methods. For example, we can accept separate documentary evidence or we can contact trusted third parties (such as a doctor) in order to verify a claimants identity. These identification methods should not incur costs.

The Department take the security of Universal Credit very seriously, including verifying who our claimants are. We continue to work closely with Government Digital Service to support the success of the Verify online system. The high standards of ID verification achieved by Verify are used on our Universal Credit Full Service today in addition to a face-to-face alternative approach.