Written Question
Wednesday 1st May 2024
Asked by:
Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of new Jobseeker’s Allowance claims have been completed within the planned processing timescales by (a) nation and (b) region in each year since 2010.
Answered by Paul Maynard
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Jobseekers Allowance | 88.6% | 86.8% | 80.6% | 53.1% | 82.5% | 87.1% | 67.8% | 58.7% |
Employment and Support Allowance | 84.6% | 85.3% | 73.3% | 96.1% | 70.9% | 42.5% | 47.4% | 39.5% |
State Pension | 87.9% | 73.7% | 86.8% | 86.7% | 76.2% | 45.6% | 72.0% | 96.2% |
Pension Credit | 71.0% | 55.2% | 53.4% | 44.8% | 88.2% | 74.3% | 45.7% | 77.7% |
Disability Living Allowance (child) | 96.8% | 96.5% | 96.2% | 91.3% | 92.1% | 35.6% | 4.6% | 3.5% |
Personal Independence Payment | 85.1% | 77.2% | 72.3% | 40.4% | 23.0% | 6.8% | 38.4% | 51.7% |
Child Maintenance Service | 82.8% | 87.4% | 88.3% | 91.6% | 84.3% | 84.3% | 79.4% | 79.6% |
Universal Credit | | | 80.4% | 85.2% | 90.9% | 85.7% | 84.4% | TBC |
Comments to note:
- Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.
Service Performance Context:
Jobseekers Allowance
- From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.
Employment and Support Allowance
- ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.
State Pension
- Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.
Pension Credit
- 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.
Disability Living Allowance (Child)
- Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
- Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
- During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
- We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.
Personal Independence Payment
- PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
- PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.
Child Maintenance Service
- Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.
Universal Credit
- Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.
- Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.
Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)
Jobseekers Allowance | Within 10 working days |
Employment and Support Allowance | Within 10 working days |
State Pension | Within 20 working days of State Pension entitlement date or 20 working days of Initial date of claim if claiming after entitlement has started. |
Pension Credit | Within 50 working days |
Disability Living Allowance (Child) | Within 40 working days |
Personal Independence Payment | Within 75 working days |
Child Maintenance Service | Payment within 12 weeks |
Universal Credit | % Full Payment 1st Assessment Period |
Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.
Written Question
Wednesday 1st May 2024
Asked by:
Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of new Disability Living Allowance claims have been completed within the planned processing timescales by (a) nation and (b) region in each year since 2010.
Answered by Paul Maynard
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Jobseekers Allowance | 88.6% | 86.8% | 80.6% | 53.1% | 82.5% | 87.1% | 67.8% | 58.7% |
Employment and Support Allowance | 84.6% | 85.3% | 73.3% | 96.1% | 70.9% | 42.5% | 47.4% | 39.5% |
State Pension | 87.9% | 73.7% | 86.8% | 86.7% | 76.2% | 45.6% | 72.0% | 96.2% |
Pension Credit | 71.0% | 55.2% | 53.4% | 44.8% | 88.2% | 74.3% | 45.7% | 77.7% |
Disability Living Allowance (child) | 96.8% | 96.5% | 96.2% | 91.3% | 92.1% | 35.6% | 4.6% | 3.5% |
Personal Independence Payment | 85.1% | 77.2% | 72.3% | 40.4% | 23.0% | 6.8% | 38.4% | 51.7% |
Child Maintenance Service | 82.8% | 87.4% | 88.3% | 91.6% | 84.3% | 84.3% | 79.4% | 79.6% |
Universal Credit | | | 80.4% | 85.2% | 90.9% | 85.7% | 84.4% | TBC |
Comments to note:
- Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.
Service Performance Context:
Jobseekers Allowance
- From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.
Employment and Support Allowance
- ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.
State Pension
- Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.
Pension Credit
- 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.
Disability Living Allowance (Child)
- Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
- Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
- During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
- We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.
Personal Independence Payment
- PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
- PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.
Child Maintenance Service
- Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.
Universal Credit
- Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.
- Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.
Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)
Jobseekers Allowance | Within 10 working days |
Employment and Support Allowance | Within 10 working days |
State Pension | Within 20 working days of State Pension entitlement date or 20 working days of Initial date of claim if claiming after entitlement has started. |
Pension Credit | Within 50 working days |
Disability Living Allowance (Child) | Within 40 working days |
Personal Independence Payment | Within 75 working days |
Child Maintenance Service | Payment within 12 weeks |
Universal Credit | % Full Payment 1st Assessment Period |
Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.
Written Question
Wednesday 1st May 2024
Asked by:
Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of new Employment and Support Allowance claims have been completed within the planned processing timescales by (a) nation and (b) region in each year since 2010.
Answered by Paul Maynard
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Jobseekers Allowance | 88.6% | 86.8% | 80.6% | 53.1% | 82.5% | 87.1% | 67.8% | 58.7% |
Employment and Support Allowance | 84.6% | 85.3% | 73.3% | 96.1% | 70.9% | 42.5% | 47.4% | 39.5% |
State Pension | 87.9% | 73.7% | 86.8% | 86.7% | 76.2% | 45.6% | 72.0% | 96.2% |
Pension Credit | 71.0% | 55.2% | 53.4% | 44.8% | 88.2% | 74.3% | 45.7% | 77.7% |
Disability Living Allowance (child) | 96.8% | 96.5% | 96.2% | 91.3% | 92.1% | 35.6% | 4.6% | 3.5% |
Personal Independence Payment | 85.1% | 77.2% | 72.3% | 40.4% | 23.0% | 6.8% | 38.4% | 51.7% |
Child Maintenance Service | 82.8% | 87.4% | 88.3% | 91.6% | 84.3% | 84.3% | 79.4% | 79.6% |
Universal Credit | | | 80.4% | 85.2% | 90.9% | 85.7% | 84.4% | TBC |
Comments to note:
- Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.
Service Performance Context:
Jobseekers Allowance
- From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.
Employment and Support Allowance
- ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.
State Pension
- Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.
Pension Credit
- 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.
Disability Living Allowance (Child)
- Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
- Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
- During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
- We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.
Personal Independence Payment
- PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
- PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.
Child Maintenance Service
- Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.
Universal Credit
- Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.
- Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.
Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)
Jobseekers Allowance | Within 10 working days |
Employment and Support Allowance | Within 10 working days |
State Pension | Within 20 working days of State Pension entitlement date or 20 working days of Initial date of claim if claiming after entitlement has started. |
Pension Credit | Within 50 working days |
Disability Living Allowance (Child) | Within 40 working days |
Personal Independence Payment | Within 75 working days |
Child Maintenance Service | Payment within 12 weeks |
Universal Credit | % Full Payment 1st Assessment Period |
Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.
Written Question
Wednesday 1st May 2024
Asked by:
Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of new Personal Independence Payment claims have been completed within the planned processing timescales by (a) nation and (b) region in each year since 2013.
Answered by Paul Maynard
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Jobseekers Allowance | 88.6% | 86.8% | 80.6% | 53.1% | 82.5% | 87.1% | 67.8% | 58.7% |
Employment and Support Allowance | 84.6% | 85.3% | 73.3% | 96.1% | 70.9% | 42.5% | 47.4% | 39.5% |
State Pension | 87.9% | 73.7% | 86.8% | 86.7% | 76.2% | 45.6% | 72.0% | 96.2% |
Pension Credit | 71.0% | 55.2% | 53.4% | 44.8% | 88.2% | 74.3% | 45.7% | 77.7% |
Disability Living Allowance (child) | 96.8% | 96.5% | 96.2% | 91.3% | 92.1% | 35.6% | 4.6% | 3.5% |
Personal Independence Payment | 85.1% | 77.2% | 72.3% | 40.4% | 23.0% | 6.8% | 38.4% | 51.7% |
Child Maintenance Service | 82.8% | 87.4% | 88.3% | 91.6% | 84.3% | 84.3% | 79.4% | 79.6% |
Universal Credit | | | 80.4% | 85.2% | 90.9% | 85.7% | 84.4% | TBC |
Comments to note:
- Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.
Service Performance Context:
Jobseekers Allowance
- From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.
Employment and Support Allowance
- ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.
State Pension
- Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.
Pension Credit
- 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.
Disability Living Allowance (Child)
- Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
- Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
- During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
- We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.
Personal Independence Payment
- PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
- PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.
Child Maintenance Service
- Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.
Universal Credit
- Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.
- Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.
Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)
Jobseekers Allowance | Within 10 working days |
Employment and Support Allowance | Within 10 working days |
State Pension | Within 20 working days of State Pension entitlement date or 20 working days of Initial date of claim if claiming after entitlement has started. |
Pension Credit | Within 50 working days |
Disability Living Allowance (Child) | Within 40 working days |
Personal Independence Payment | Within 75 working days |
Child Maintenance Service | Payment within 12 weeks |
Universal Credit | % Full Payment 1st Assessment Period |
Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.
Written Question
Wednesday 1st May 2024
Asked by:
Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of new State Pension claims have been completed within the planned processing timescales by (a) nation and (b) region in each year since 2010.
Answered by Paul Maynard
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Jobseekers Allowance | 88.6% | 86.8% | 80.6% | 53.1% | 82.5% | 87.1% | 67.8% | 58.7% |
Employment and Support Allowance | 84.6% | 85.3% | 73.3% | 96.1% | 70.9% | 42.5% | 47.4% | 39.5% |
State Pension | 87.9% | 73.7% | 86.8% | 86.7% | 76.2% | 45.6% | 72.0% | 96.2% |
Pension Credit | 71.0% | 55.2% | 53.4% | 44.8% | 88.2% | 74.3% | 45.7% | 77.7% |
Disability Living Allowance (child) | 96.8% | 96.5% | 96.2% | 91.3% | 92.1% | 35.6% | 4.6% | 3.5% |
Personal Independence Payment | 85.1% | 77.2% | 72.3% | 40.4% | 23.0% | 6.8% | 38.4% | 51.7% |
Child Maintenance Service | 82.8% | 87.4% | 88.3% | 91.6% | 84.3% | 84.3% | 79.4% | 79.6% |
Universal Credit | | | 80.4% | 85.2% | 90.9% | 85.7% | 84.4% | TBC |
Comments to note:
- Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.
Service Performance Context:
Jobseekers Allowance
- From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.
Employment and Support Allowance
- ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.
State Pension
- Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.
Pension Credit
- 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.
Disability Living Allowance (Child)
- Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
- Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
- During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
- We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.
Personal Independence Payment
- PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
- PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.
Child Maintenance Service
- Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.
Universal Credit
- Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.
- Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.
Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)
Jobseekers Allowance | Within 10 working days |
Employment and Support Allowance | Within 10 working days |
State Pension | Within 20 working days of State Pension entitlement date or 20 working days of Initial date of claim if claiming after entitlement has started. |
Pension Credit | Within 50 working days |
Disability Living Allowance (Child) | Within 40 working days |
Personal Independence Payment | Within 75 working days |
Child Maintenance Service | Payment within 12 weeks |
Universal Credit | % Full Payment 1st Assessment Period |
Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.
Written Question
Wednesday 1st May 2024
Asked by:
Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of new Pension Credit claims have been completed within the planned processing timescales by (a) nation and (b) region in each year since 2010.
Answered by Paul Maynard
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Jobseekers Allowance | 88.6% | 86.8% | 80.6% | 53.1% | 82.5% | 87.1% | 67.8% | 58.7% |
Employment and Support Allowance | 84.6% | 85.3% | 73.3% | 96.1% | 70.9% | 42.5% | 47.4% | 39.5% |
State Pension | 87.9% | 73.7% | 86.8% | 86.7% | 76.2% | 45.6% | 72.0% | 96.2% |
Pension Credit | 71.0% | 55.2% | 53.4% | 44.8% | 88.2% | 74.3% | 45.7% | 77.7% |
Disability Living Allowance (child) | 96.8% | 96.5% | 96.2% | 91.3% | 92.1% | 35.6% | 4.6% | 3.5% |
Personal Independence Payment | 85.1% | 77.2% | 72.3% | 40.4% | 23.0% | 6.8% | 38.4% | 51.7% |
Child Maintenance Service | 82.8% | 87.4% | 88.3% | 91.6% | 84.3% | 84.3% | 79.4% | 79.6% |
Universal Credit | | | 80.4% | 85.2% | 90.9% | 85.7% | 84.4% | TBC |
Comments to note:
- Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.
Service Performance Context:
Jobseekers Allowance
- From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.
Employment and Support Allowance
- ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.
State Pension
- Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.
Pension Credit
- 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.
Disability Living Allowance (Child)
- Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
- Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
- During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
- We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.
Personal Independence Payment
- PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
- PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.
Child Maintenance Service
- Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.
Universal Credit
- Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.
- Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.
Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)
Jobseekers Allowance | Within 10 working days |
Employment and Support Allowance | Within 10 working days |
State Pension | Within 20 working days of State Pension entitlement date or 20 working days of Initial date of claim if claiming after entitlement has started. |
Pension Credit | Within 50 working days |
Disability Living Allowance (Child) | Within 40 working days |
Personal Independence Payment | Within 75 working days |
Child Maintenance Service | Payment within 12 weeks |
Universal Credit | % Full Payment 1st Assessment Period |
Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.
Written Question
Wednesday 1st May 2024
Asked by:
Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of new Child Maintenance claims have been completed within the planned processing timescales by (a) nation and (b) region in each year since 2012.
Answered by Paul Maynard
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Jobseekers Allowance | 88.6% | 86.8% | 80.6% | 53.1% | 82.5% | 87.1% | 67.8% | 58.7% |
Employment and Support Allowance | 84.6% | 85.3% | 73.3% | 96.1% | 70.9% | 42.5% | 47.4% | 39.5% |
State Pension | 87.9% | 73.7% | 86.8% | 86.7% | 76.2% | 45.6% | 72.0% | 96.2% |
Pension Credit | 71.0% | 55.2% | 53.4% | 44.8% | 88.2% | 74.3% | 45.7% | 77.7% |
Disability Living Allowance (child) | 96.8% | 96.5% | 96.2% | 91.3% | 92.1% | 35.6% | 4.6% | 3.5% |
Personal Independence Payment | 85.1% | 77.2% | 72.3% | 40.4% | 23.0% | 6.8% | 38.4% | 51.7% |
Child Maintenance Service | 82.8% | 87.4% | 88.3% | 91.6% | 84.3% | 84.3% | 79.4% | 79.6% |
Universal Credit | | | 80.4% | 85.2% | 90.9% | 85.7% | 84.4% | TBC |
Comments to note:
- Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.
Service Performance Context:
Jobseekers Allowance
- From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.
Employment and Support Allowance
- ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.
State Pension
- Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.
Pension Credit
- 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.
Disability Living Allowance (Child)
- Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
- Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
- During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
- We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.
Personal Independence Payment
- PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
- PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.
Child Maintenance Service
- Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.
Universal Credit
- Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.
- Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.
Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)
Jobseekers Allowance | Within 10 working days |
Employment and Support Allowance | Within 10 working days |
State Pension | Within 20 working days of State Pension entitlement date or 20 working days of Initial date of claim if claiming after entitlement has started. |
Pension Credit | Within 50 working days |
Disability Living Allowance (Child) | Within 40 working days |
Personal Independence Payment | Within 75 working days |
Child Maintenance Service | Payment within 12 weeks |
Universal Credit | % Full Payment 1st Assessment Period |
Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.
Written Question
Wednesday 1st May 2024
Asked by:
Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentage of new Universal Credit claims have been completed within the planned processing timescales by (a) nation and (b) region in each year since 2012.
Answered by Paul Maynard
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.
| 2016-17 | 2017-18 | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 |
Jobseekers Allowance | 88.6% | 86.8% | 80.6% | 53.1% | 82.5% | 87.1% | 67.8% | 58.7% |
Employment and Support Allowance | 84.6% | 85.3% | 73.3% | 96.1% | 70.9% | 42.5% | 47.4% | 39.5% |
State Pension | 87.9% | 73.7% | 86.8% | 86.7% | 76.2% | 45.6% | 72.0% | 96.2% |
Pension Credit | 71.0% | 55.2% | 53.4% | 44.8% | 88.2% | 74.3% | 45.7% | 77.7% |
Disability Living Allowance (child) | 96.8% | 96.5% | 96.2% | 91.3% | 92.1% | 35.6% | 4.6% | 3.5% |
Personal Independence Payment | 85.1% | 77.2% | 72.3% | 40.4% | 23.0% | 6.8% | 38.4% | 51.7% |
Child Maintenance Service | 82.8% | 87.4% | 88.3% | 91.6% | 84.3% | 84.3% | 79.4% | 79.6% |
Universal Credit | | | 80.4% | 85.2% | 90.9% | 85.7% | 84.4% | TBC |
Comments to note:
- Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.
Service Performance Context:
Jobseekers Allowance
- From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.
Employment and Support Allowance
- ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.
State Pension
- Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.
Pension Credit
- 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.
Disability Living Allowance (Child)
- Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
- Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
- During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
- We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.
Personal Independence Payment
- PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
- PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.
Child Maintenance Service
- Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.
Universal Credit
- Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.
- The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.
- Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.
Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)
Jobseekers Allowance | Within 10 working days |
Employment and Support Allowance | Within 10 working days |
State Pension | Within 20 working days of State Pension entitlement date or 20 working days of Initial date of claim if claiming after entitlement has started. |
Pension Credit | Within 50 working days |
Disability Living Allowance (Child) | Within 40 working days |
Personal Independence Payment | Within 75 working days |
Child Maintenance Service | Payment within 12 weeks |
Universal Credit | % Full Payment 1st Assessment Period |
Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.
Written Question
Wednesday 1st May 2024
Asked by:
Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of claims processed within planned processing timescales.
Answered by Paul Maynard
- Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department has seen a sustained increase in applications and demand for DWP services as a result of the pandemic and subsequent cost of living pressures, as well as ongoing publicity campaigns such as Help for Households and Pension Credit take-up.
Whilst we have seen an overall improvement in claims processed within planned timescales, and we expect that overall performance to continue to improve in the 24-25 figures, we acknowledge that across our services more needs to be done to improve the number of claims processed within the planned timescales.
Through recruitment in 23-24 we have started 17,166 people in new roles (and have further candidates due to start in Q1 of 24-25). This level of recruitment has resulted in a net increase in our Service Delivery resource levels to meet customer demand. We also have utilised our existing contracts with external partners to increase our service delivery capacity.
Across our service lines we continue to focus on productivity improvement activities, as well as continuing to modernise our benefit services through our digital transformation and Service Modernisation programmes, which mean an increasing number of claims can now be made online and through self-service. The Department strategy is to continue our modernisation programme, enable our people to focus on supporting more vulnerable customers who are unable to self-serve or need additional support.
Written Question
Wednesday 1st May 2024
Asked by:
Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question
to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many prisoners have accessed support through Prison Work Coaches since the scheme's introduction; and how many of those prisoners entered the labour market as a result in each such year.
Answered by Mims Davies
- Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department for Work and Pensions has around 200 Prison Work Coaches who provide benefit and employment support to prisoners in every prison across England, Scotland and Wales.
Data is not available on how many prisoners have accessed support through Prison Work Coaches.
We are pleased employment rates amongst prison leavers continue to improve. In the year to March 2023, 25.9% of prison leavers were employed 6 months post release, up from 17.3% in the previous year, excluding cases out of scope or where the status was unknown. This information is included in the Community Performance Annual, update to March 2023 which is published on gov.uk[1].
[1] Community Performance Annual, update to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)