Asked by: Josh Babarinde (Liberal Democrat - Eastbourne)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is notified that a claimant has been moved in to out of area temporary accommodation.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department works closely with local authorities, who are responsible for administering Housing Benefit for people living in temporary accommodation. Housing Benefit covers housing costs in temporary accommodation, while Universal Credit supports daily living costs.
When a claimant moves into temporary accommodation, they or their appointee must report any change of circumstances through their Universal Credit account. Local authorities cannot do this on a claimant’s behalf.
Jobcentre staff in England support customers at risk of homelessness through the statutory Duty to Refer, offering a referral to a local authority for housing support.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average end-to-end clearance time for a Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment was in each month since January 2025 for (a) new and (b) existing claimants.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The department regularly publishes Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics and the development of clearance times is detailed in the release strategy for those statistics. Further details on the future publication of clearance times will be published in the DWP Statistical Work Programme in due course.
Asked by: Neil Duncan-Jordan (Labour - Poole)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has issued guidance to local authorities on the assessment of entitlement to a Council Tax reduction for residents who are in receipt of Universal Credit.
Answered by Alison McGovern - Minister of State (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
The department has not issued any recent guidance to local authorities on the assessment of entitlement to a council tax reduction for residents who are in receipt of Universal Credit. The administration of council tax reduction for working-age claimants is the responsibility of local authorities. The government encourages taxpayers who are in hardship to contact their local authority to discuss their options.
Asked by: Sharon Hodgson (Labour - Washington and Gateshead South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of reviewing the No Recourse to Public Funds income thresholds to ensure equity of eligibility for all children when expanding access to the free school meals to children from families in receipt of universal credit.
Answered by Olivia Bailey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Education) (Equalities)
The department has permanently extended free school meal eligibility to children in all households with no recourse to public funds, provided they meet income thresholds set out in public guidance.
This ensures that children can access support regardless of their background or circumstances, including the immigration status of their parents.
The income thresholds for No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) households were designed to account for the differences in household income between NRPF households and those with access to additional state support to ensure parity.
The government has set out plans to extend free school meals to all children from households in receipt of Universal Credit from September 2026. The department continues to keep all aspects of the free school meals system under review.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific reasonable adjustments are embedded in the digital benefit application interface to accommodate claimants with learning disabilities; and what percentage of those who failed (1) the identity verification, and (2) the work capability, online application stages in the past 12 months were identified as having a learning disability.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is committed to ensuring that its digital benefit services, including the Universal Credit online claim, are accessible to all, in line with our duties under the Equality Act 2010. This includes making reasonable adjustments for people with learning disabilities so that they are not placed at a substantial disadvantage when applying for support.
Universal Credit is designed as a modern digital service, with the online application structured in clear steps and using plain English, informed by user research and feedback. The questions presented are built dynamically based on the information the customer provides, so people only see the screens that are relevant to their circumstances, reducing complexity for those who may find long forms or highly technical language difficult to manage.
An Accessibility Statement link is also available at the bottom of each Universal Credit page. This explains how to access the service if extra support is needed, including how to ask for information in alternative formats or for additional help with managing the digital journey.
Customers who are unable to use the digital service can make a claim by telephone, and where they are unable to attend the jobcentre, a home visit can be arranged to undertake verification. Customers may also give explicit consent for a trusted third party to help manage their claim, or an appointee can be formally appointed to act on their behalf, with these arrangements recorded within the digital service.
The Department keeps the Universal Credit service under regular review and continues to work with stakeholders, disability organisations and people with lived experience to identify further improvements, including for customers with learning disabilities, to ensure that our services remain accessible and responsive to all.
With reference to the statistics requested, these are not readily available based on the requested parameters.
Asked by: Danny Beales (Labour - Uxbridge and South Ruislip)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to streamline the process for parents on Universal Credit to claim upfront childcare costs through the Flexible Support Fund.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is committed to improving its services continuously. The Department is strengthening delivery of Upfront Childcare Costs (UFCCC), so that eligible parents receive timely support when moving into work. As part of this, guidance has been streamlined to ensure agents provide consistent UFCCC support to all eligible claimants.
The application process is being streamlined to make it simpler for work coaches and customers. The service will continue to be reviewed to identify further opportunities for improvement.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants were overpaid cost of living payments in 2025; and what is the total amount of the overpayments identified in 2025.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department publishes fraud and error statistics annually and the data for FYE 2025 can be found here: Fraud and error in the benefit system, Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2025 - GOV.UK.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the 18-to-21-year-olds on Universal Credit who are offered a work placement through the Youth Guarantee scheme will have a choice over the sector, location, or type of role.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Youth Guarantee is backed by an £820 million investment over the next three years to reach almost 900,000 young people. This includes Youth Hubs in every area in Great Britain and a new Youth Guarantee Gateway, offering a dedicated session and follow-up support to 16-24-year-olds on Universal Credit to get them into employment or training. This investment will also create around 300,000 more opportunities to gain workplace experience and training. In addition, it will provide guaranteed jobs to around 55,000 young people aged 18-21.
With over 350,000 opportunities, there will be flexibility for young people to find roles in different sectors, locations, and professions. To achieve this, we will work with national and local employers and training providers to create a range of high-quality job and training opportunities.
Asked by: Lord Bishop of Leicester (Bishops - Bishops)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government for how long they will remove the right to claim benefits from 18-to-21-year-olds on Universal Credit who do not accept the offer of a work placement through the Youth Guarantee scheme.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Youth Guarantee is part of a new social contract with young people – opportunity matched by responsibility. Young people who can work will be expected to engage with the support offered. If the support is declined without good reasons, existing benefit sanction rules will apply. The Jobs Guarantee is no exception and the full conditionality regime will apply.
Asked by: Helen Whately (Conservative - Faversham and Mid Kent)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the amount paid in Universal Credit to claimants recorded as non-UK nationals by month since 1 July 2024.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Non-British and Irish nationals typically cannot access Universal Credit until they have been granted settlement after 5 years of lawful residence in the UK. The Home Office are consulting on doubling the standard qualifying period for settlement from 5 to 10 years. Exceptionally, some groups can access sooner, including people protected by the Withdrawal Agreement and Afghans and Ukrainians who have fled those countries.
Universal Credit awards are paid to households, so it is not possible to break payments down to individual members of a household.