More than 140,000 ‘declarations’ for universal credit were made in just one day at the end of March 2020

DWP reports 'unprecedented levels' of demand, with five times as many declarations made in the six weeks to 12 April 2020 as in the same period last year

More than 140,000 'declarations' were made for universal credit in just one day at the end of March 2020, according to new management information from the DWP.

Alongside its monthly release of universal credit statistics, the DWP has today published supplementary management information setting out the number of 'declarations' made to universal credit between 1 March and 12 April 2020 - 

NB - the DWP advises that a declaration is made where an individual/household provides information on their personal circumstances to begin a universal credit claim, and clarifies that not all declarations will go on to receive a payment.

In the explanatory notes to the management information, the DWP says -

'Since the start of the [coronavirus (COVID-19)] pandemic, there has been unprecedented levels of demand for universal credit. In the 6 weeks to 12 April 2020, the DWP received over 1.8 million declarations to universal credit. This is almost five times higher than the amount of declarations received from individuals in the same period last year ...'

While the DWP says that the numbers are now beginning to fall, it adds that -

'... future declaration volumes are highly uncertain, high volumes can be expected to continue in the short term.'

The new management information release also includes figures relating to advance payments and shows, for example, that in the 4-week period to 12 April 2020 more than 513,000 advance payments were issued (compared to 183,000 in the preceding 4 weeks).

For more information, see Universal Credit: 29 April 2013 to 12 March 2020 from gov.uk