Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department is taking steps to reduce the length of time to determine mandatory reconsiderations for carers allowance.

A request for a Carer’s Allowance mandatory reconsideration is all part of a wider combined DWP Disputes Resolution Service and Retirement Services Directorate changes of circumstances process.

The DWP has successfully reduced the head of work for Carer’s Allowance change of circumstances, which includes requests for a mandatory reconsideration, over the course of the last six months.

The current average clearance time for processing a change of circumstances is 14.5 days and reducing steadily month-on-month, which will improve the time taken to process mandatory