On Thursday 25th June, Stephen brought an Urgent Question following a Court of Appeal judgement on Monday which found Universal Credit rules 'irrational' and the DWP's failure to fix the issue "unlawful".
In January 2019, the High Court ruled in favour of four women who argued that the Universal Credit regulations did not take into account the fact that pay dates for monthly salaries can fluctuate (due to weekends or bank holidays).
The Universal Credit assessment period runs from the last day of each month to the penultimate day of the following month. Therefore, if an employee is paid a day earlier, they are judged to have earned double in one month and nothing in the next month, meaning their benefits can fluctuate severely. The women involved in the case reported being in rent arrears, being unable to pay council tax, and having to use foodbanks.
Yesterday, the Court of Appeal dismissed the Department of Work and Pensions' (DWP) attempt to overturn the High Court's ruling, with Lord Justice Underhill saying that the issue has had a "severely harmful impact".
Today, Stephen asked the Work and Pensions Secretary for a statement on the Department's response to this verdict. Stephen said the situation had left claimants' income "severely disrupted". Although he was "grateful" that the DWP was not planning to appeal the ruling and had "accepted the inevitable", they should've "given up the fight" last year. He also asked for an estimate of the number of people affected, and questioned the Minister on when the Universal Credit computer system would be fixed.