Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the current processing times are for new Carer's Allowance applications and what the processing times were on average in 2025 and 2024.

Currently average processing time is 26.8 days. In parts of 2024 the average was as high as 38 days. However, this was reduced to 16.5 working days in 2025.

We are working to reduce the timeline. We are balancing current work pressures and the supply of experience Decision Makers (DM) to support the Carers Independent review (CA IR) which has meant that these times have been extended more recently.

Resourcing discussions are underway to ensure backfill is in place. However, decision maker training time is longer and can be 12 months to become fully productive for brand new staff.

In the meantime, 20 experienced AO-grade staff have been upskilled to undertake Decision Maker duties and provide additional support when available. Their deployment is considered alongside current pressures to ensure resources are directed to the highest priority areas.