Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what additional steps she will take to improve response times to pensions inquires from hon. Members.

Retirement Services are currently experiencing a very high volume of enquiries, and it is taking us longer than usual to reply as we recover from the challenges of the pandemic.

DWP now triage enquiries giving priority to vulnerable claimants who may be at risk, and those with benefit payment issues.

We are reviewing the effectiveness of the approach we have taken throughout the pandemic and to improve our level of service we have introduced a bespoke Retirement Services mailbox for MP enquiries, improved our MP engagement at local level and are reviewing resourcing levels.

We are in the process of designing the future operating model for DWP complaints and correspondence. As part of this we will be looking for further opportunities to drive efficiency in the process whilst ensuring that vulnerable customers are prioritised.