Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 October to Question 2694 on Maternity Allowance, on what date her Department's messaging changed; and what the estimated number of days was in relation to that change.

From 15 October 19 all Enquiry Line greeting messages, Gov.uk and SMS messages were aligned to notify customers that the working day turn around for MA claims was 70 days. This estimate reflected potential concerns that processing times could increase still further – which did not ultimately prove to be the case. In light of this we are reviewing our messaging to ensure our actual processing times are correctly reflected.

SMS texts only go to those customers that provide mobile contact numbers and are automated from the mail opening unit on receipt of the claim form.