Database: Households on Universal Credit
Field: Scottish Choices More Frequent Payment Indicator
Description
The Scottish Choices More Frequent Payment indicator shows whether a household has had their payment of Universal Credit divided over the month to be paid in two instalments via a Universal Credit Scottish Choices More Frequent Payment.
For the indicator to be shown as 'Yes', the household must have a Scottish Choices More Frequent Payment in place, the claim must be in payment, and payment data must show that more than one payment was made for the assessment period that covers the count date.
Classification
Applicable to: Households in Scotland
The Scottish Choices More Frequent Payment indicator field can take the following values:
Total number of categories: 2
Quality Statement
Households with this arrangement have been identified by observing whether a Scottish Choices More Frequent Payment APA is recorded on the Universal Credit Full Service system (UCFS). It is not recorded within this data whether claimants receive their payment in two or four instalments.
Claimants living in Scotland may make arrange for a More Frequent Payment through Scottish Choices in which case they will be included here, or through the National DWP system. Claimants with arrangements through the DWP system (also used by England and Wales) are not included in the count for this variable. There is a separate variable called More Frequent Payment for these cases.
A small number of households located in England, typically near the Scottish border, may be eligible for the Scottish Choices More Frequent Payment arrangement. Therefore, a small number of households counted within this variable may not live in Scotland.
During rollout of Universal Credit, the types of claims accepted varied for different regions. This led to regional differences in the number of claims where payment is made to a landlord. As such, figures from before December 2018 (when rollout was complete) should be carefully considered before any inferences are drawn around geographical differences in the proportion of claims involving direct payment to a landlord.