UNIVERSAL CREDIT AND SELF-EMPLOYMENT

That this House notes the roll-out of universal credit in South Lakeland on 26 September 2018; further notes that the Trussell Trust food bank network has seen an increase of 13 per cent in demand for three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis this year; recognises the lack of flexibility in universal credit provision for the self-employed and those with seasonal fluctuations in payment; further recognises that this results in unfair penalisation in the provision of financial support; notes the spike in poverty and debt experienced by places where universal credit has already been rolled out; condemns the DWP's five-week waiting time for claimants' first payment; urges the Government to automatically allow advanced payment to claimants; and calls on the Government to take the work and payment patters of the self-employed into account in their allocation of universal credit.