Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what discussions she has had with the Pensions Ombudsman on the adequacy of the time taken for a complaint to be allocated to an adjudicator.

I met with the Pensions Ombudsman and Chief Operating Officer to discuss the significant increase over a period of several years in complaints received; a trend that is continuing. This increase has impacted on waiting times for cases to be allocated to an adjudication specialist. In response, The Pension Ombudsman has implemented an Operating Model Review (OMR) programme.

DWP are working closely with TPO to rigorously monitor the impact the OMR is having on waiting times and case allocation to adjudication specialists.