PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Social Security Benefits: Overpayments (9 November 2020)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of people on (a) universal credit and (b) legacy benefits were subject to deductions for benefit overpayments in the most recent month for which figures are available.

Asked by:
Nadia Whittome (Labour)

For UC claims with payments due during August 2020, around 5% (216,000 claims) had deductions for benefit overpayments. The deductions from UC for benefit overpayments include overpayments for tax credits, housing benefit and any DWP overpayments (including legacy benefits), not just UC overpayments.

The latest available data for legacy benefits shows, claims with payments due during May 2020, around 1% (213,000 claims) had deductions for benefit overpayments.

UC collects overpayments from the full range of benefits, including tax credits. As more people have moved on to UC this has resulted in a greater proportion of these overpayments being collected through UC.

Notes

• Claims figures rounded to the nearest 1,000.
• During the Covid period, deductions for benefit overpayments were suspended for three months. These began to be reinstated from July 2020, taking a phased approach, however as of August they have not been fully reinstated and some new debts may not yet have been transferred to DWP.
• Deductions for benefit overpayments include DWP, HMRC and LA fraud and non-fraud overpayments.
• Figures are provisional and are subject to retrospective change as later data becomes available.

Answered by:
Will Quince (Conservative)
12 November 2020