Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the time taken by his Department to respond to complaints about Personal Independence Payments sent by Members.

When the department receives a complaint from a Member of Parliament, the aim is to contact them within 15 working days to tell them of the outcome, or when they can expect a response, if it will take longer.

We will always aim to resolve the complaint as quickly as we can, however, on occasion that the complaint is complex, we will contact the Member of Parliament to let them know when they can expect a response.

The DWP has made significant improvements to the complaints service since 2021; we triage all complaints, giving priority to vulnerable claimants who may be at risk, and those with benefit payment issues. We continually monitor complaints, including the volumes, and have introduced further improvements including developing a consistent approach to complaints through new quality standards. We are committed to learning from complaints, using insight to support further improvements and our service to customers.