PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Universal Credit: Armed Forces (23 October 2024)

Question Asked

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Universal Credit claimants were identified as (a) serving and (b) having served in the armed forces in each assessment period between July 2022 and June 2024.

Asked by:
Lucy Rigby (Labour)

Answer

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.

Data coverage continues to improve over time and by June 2024 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 75% of the GB UC caseload (see table below). It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past.

Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.

The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded may not be representative of the UC caseload as a whole. This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past.

Increases in the numbers of claimants with a recorded status of “currently serving” or “served in the past” do not necessarily mean the overall numbers of claimants who are currently serving or have served in the past have increased and may reflect increases in the number of claimants for whom data is held as data coverage improves over time.

The table below shows how the proportion of the GB UC caseload with a recorded Armed Forces status has changed over time. It also shows how many claimants on the caseload had a recorded status of each type.

UC caseload month

Proportion of caseload with a recorded status

Currently serving

Served in the past

Not served

Prefer not to say

No recorded status

July 2022

51%

3,000

39,000

2,800,000

21,000

2,800,000

August 2022

53%

3,200

40,000

2,900,000

22,000

2,700,000

September 2022

54%

3,200

41,000

3,000,000

22,000

2,600,000

October 2022

56%

3,300

43,000

3,100,000

23,000

2,500,000

November 2022

57%

3,300

44,000

3,200,000

24,000

2,500,000

December 2022

58%

3,400

45,000

3,300,000

25,000

2,400,000

January 2023

59%

3,500

46,000

3,400,000

25,000

2,300,000

February 2023

61%

3,500

48,000

3,500,000

26,000

2,300,000

March 2023

62%

3,600

48,000

3,500,000

27,000

2,200,000

April 2023

63%

3,700

50,000

3,600,000

28,000

2,200,000

May 2023

64%

3,800

50,000

3,700,000

28,000

2,100,000

June 2023

65%

3,900

51,000

3,800,000

29,000

2,100,000

July 2023

66%

4,000

52,000

3,900,000

30,000

2,100,000

August 2023

66%

4,000

53,000

3,900,000

30,000

2,000,000

September 2023

67%

4,000

54,000

4,000,000

30,000

2,000,000

October 2023

68%

3,900

54,000

4,100,000

30,000

2,000,000

November 2023

69%

3,900

55,000

4,200,000

31,000

1,900,000

December 2023

70%

3,900

57,000

4,300,000

31,000

1,900,000

January 2024

71%

3,900

58,000

4,400,000

32,000

1,900,000

February 2024

72%

4,000

59,000

4,500,000

32,000

1,800,000

March 2024

73%

4,200

62,000

4,700,000

33,000

1,800,000

April 2024

73%

4,200

63,000

4,800,000

34,000

1,800,000

May 2024

74%

4,300

64,000

4,900,000

34,000

1,800,000

June 2024

75%

4,500

65,000

5,000,000

35,000

1,700,000

Notes:

1. Figures are for Great Britain. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland.

2. Figures in the table have been rounded to either the nearest hundred, thousand or hundred thousand in line with Department’s Official Statistics rounding policy.

3. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/


Answered by:
Sir Stephen Timms (Labour)
28 October 2024

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.