Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the number of complaints made about her Department accepted by the Independent Case Examiner has increased over the last 12 months.

The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) plays an important role in responding to complaints about the Department, where the customer remains dissatisfied with DWP’s final response, and there are a variety of factors that can influence the numbers of complaints accepted by the ICE office.

As yet, it is too early to draw any firm conclusions about what may have caused any increase in complaints being accepted by ICE over the last 12 months, but we continue to monitor escalation rates closely and work with the ICE office to identify and address potential drivers.