Supported by: Sandra White*, Alison Johnstone*, Maureen Watt*, Richard Lyle*, Bill Kidd*, Kenneth Gibson*, Alexander Burnett* R *S5M-20061 Alison Johnstone: Deductions from Universal Credit—That the Parliament understands that Freedom of Information requests published by The Observer newspaper show that, in May 2019, 1,048,000 UK universal credit claimants did not receive their full entitlements due to repayment of advances and other debts; notes with regret that a third of all universal credit recipients are experiencing deductions of 20% or more; understands that reasons for deductions include repaying historical tax credit debt and universal credit advances often used by recipients to cover the five-week waiting time; shares concerns expressed by Citizens Advice that “many people on universal credit are struggling to make ends meet, and that deductions are contributing to this”; believes that the five-week waiting time should be removed, and calls on the UK Government to halt all deductions from social security payments, pending an urgent review.