Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what contingency arrangements are in place to maintain payment of benefits and pensions in the event of a (a) major IT or (b) infrastructure disruption.

DWP maintains robust business continuity and resilience plans designed to safeguard the payment of benefits and pensions in the event of major disruption, including significant IT or infrastructure failures. The Department keeps these arrangements under regular review and testing to ensure that critical services can continue to operate during incidents affecting normal business operations.

It would not be appropriate to disclose the detailed arrangements in place. Releasing information about specific contingency measures could reduce their effectiveness and increase risks to the resilience and security of systems that support the delivery of benefits and pensions.