Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the adequacy of (a) financial and (b) staffing support for the Pensions Ombudsman in (i) 2020, (ii) 2021, (iii) 2022 and (iv) 2023 to date.

DWP have increased the financial support to The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO), with an additional £750,000 of funding provided in 2022/23 towards tackling the case backlog and an additional £1,698,347 in 2023/24 towards the case backlog and waiting times, enabling TPO to create a new casework support team. This has significantly increased case clearances.

The Department also provide support, when necessary, in the areas of digital, commercial, security and HR alongside continuing stewardship support and advice.

The TPO 2022/23 annual report and accounts are due to be laid in Parliament and will provide further detail.