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9 March 2021

Tags:
Duty of Care and SafeguardingDepartment for Work and PensionsNational Audit OfficeWork and pensions committee
Minister for welfare delivery admits “deficit” in tracking “vulnerable claimants” through the universal credit (UC) system.

What: Giving evidence to a joint session of the Commons work and pensions committee and the Lords economic affairs committee, welfare delivery minister Will Quince concedes that the lack of a “marker” to track vulnerable claimants through the universal credit (UC) system is “a deficit”. Currently, DWP staff use “pinned notes” – in essence, electronic Post-It notes – to record claimants’ vulnerabilities or support needs on the UC system. Concerns about this approach were raised in a NAO report in 2020. Quince says that work is progressing “at pace” in DWP to develop a “claimant profiles” system to track vulnerable and disadvantaged people through the UC system.

Why significant: Shows acknowledgement by ministers of flaws  in their current approach to tracking claimants who are vulnerable.

Citations

Corrected oral evidence: Reports—Universal Credit Isn't Working: Proposals for Reform, and, Universal Credit: the Wait for the First Payment