To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people claiming universal credit in Leigh have requested an advance on their payments in each of the last four years.

There is no data broken down by area or region. The latest statistics on Universal Credit Advances were published on 02 October 2017 which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/universal-credit-payment-advances-may-2016-to-june-2017. This shows that, in July 2017, 8,400 new claims to UC Full Service received either a New Claim or Benefit Transfer Advance. This represents 52% of new claims that are eligible for a UC payment.