Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of wait times for the Disability Service Centre helpline on arthritis sufferers.

We are currently experiencing higher than forecast call volumes to the Disability Services telephony enquiry lines. We have recruited additional staff onto our telephony teams and have on-going recruitment to further increase resources. However, the department is unable to make a specific assessment of the impact of wait times in respect of arthritis sufferers.