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Universal Credit

Asked by Rupert LoweRestore BritainDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled Answered 5 November 2024UIN 11420

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many individuals claiming Universal Credit have received fit notes for each of the last three financial years.

Answered by Alison McGovern

The number of people on Universal Credit in Great Britain who submitted an accepted fit note to the Department for each of the last three financial years is shown in the table below:

2021 to 2022

2022 to 2023

2023 to 2024

854,390

896,790

908,740

Notes:

Numbers are rounded to 10.

Although most will have submitted Statements of Fitness for Work (fit notes), other forms of medical evidence that the Department accepts (e.g. hospital discharge letters) will be included in the totals.

Data is taken from Universal Credit analytical systems but results have not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standard.

The Department regularly publishes Universal Credit Health Journey caseload statistics on Stat-Xplore including the monthly number of people on UC Health with a current fit-note.

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