Department for Work and Pensions

Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award.

Where overpayments do occur due to not being entitled to the benefit, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.

Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents just 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.

The information requested has been provided in the table below. To avoid potentially disclosing personal information, we have bucketed the values requested.

The data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

Note that the values represent the original overpayment amount when raised on Debt Manager. As the year relates to when the overpayment was raised as a debt for recovery, it does not necessarily relate to the period as to when benefit was overpaid. The overpayments above all span periods of many years.

Note that the data provided is for all categories of overpayment. It is not necessarily the case that these overpayments arose due to claimants breaching the earnings limit.

We recognise the significant contribution of carers to supporting those most in need, which is why we have increased Carer's Allowance by almost £1,500 since 2010.

As with all DWP benefits, claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to the benefit they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses. This is set out at: Carer's Allowance: Eligibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Where overpayments do occur due to not being entitled to the benefit, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.

Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.

The information requested has been provided in the table below.

The data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

Note that the year relates to when the debt was raised on Debt Manager, and therefore not necessarily the period as to when Carer’s Allowance was overpaid. The overpayments may span periods of many years.

Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.

Comments to note:

• Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.

Service Performance Context:

Jobseekers Allowance

• From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.

Employment and Support Allowance

• ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.

State Pension

• Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.

Pension Credit

• 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.

Disability Living Allowance (Child)

• Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
• Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
• During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
• We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.

Personal Independence Payment

• PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
• PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.

Child Maintenance Service

• Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.

Universal Credit

• Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.

• Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.

Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)

Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.

Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.

Comments to note:

• Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.

Service Performance Context:

Jobseekers Allowance

• From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.

Employment and Support Allowance

• ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.

State Pension

• Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.

Pension Credit

• 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.

Disability Living Allowance (Child)

• Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
• Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
• During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
• We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.

Personal Independence Payment

• PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
• PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.

Child Maintenance Service

• Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.

Universal Credit

• Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.

• Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.

Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)

Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.

Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.

Comments to note:

• Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.

Service Performance Context:

Jobseekers Allowance

• From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.

Employment and Support Allowance

• ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.

State Pension

• Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.

Pension Credit

• 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.

Disability Living Allowance (Child)

• Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
• Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
• During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
• We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.

Personal Independence Payment

• PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
• PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.

Child Maintenance Service

• Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.

Universal Credit

• Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.

• Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.

Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)

Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.

Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.

Comments to note:

• Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.

Service Performance Context:

Jobseekers Allowance

• From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.

Employment and Support Allowance

• ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.

State Pension

• Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.

Pension Credit

• 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.

Disability Living Allowance (Child)

• Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
• Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
• During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
• We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.

Personal Independence Payment

• PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
• PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.

Child Maintenance Service

• Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.

Universal Credit

• Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.

• Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.

Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)

Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.

Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.

Comments to note:

• Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.

Service Performance Context:

Jobseekers Allowance

• From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.

Employment and Support Allowance

• ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.

State Pension

• Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.

Pension Credit

• 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.

Disability Living Allowance (Child)

• Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
• Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
• During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
• We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.

Personal Independence Payment

• PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
• PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.

Child Maintenance Service

• Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.

Universal Credit

• Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.

• Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.

Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)

Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.

Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.

Comments to note:

• Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.

Service Performance Context:

Jobseekers Allowance

• From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.

Employment and Support Allowance

• ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.

State Pension

• Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.

Pension Credit

• 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.

Disability Living Allowance (Child)

• Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
• Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
• During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
• We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.

Personal Independence Payment

• PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
• PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.

Child Maintenance Service

• Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.

Universal Credit

• Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.

• Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.

Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)

Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.

Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.

Comments to note:

• Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.

Service Performance Context:

Jobseekers Allowance

• From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.

Employment and Support Allowance

• ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.

State Pension

• Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.

Pension Credit

• 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.

Disability Living Allowance (Child)

• Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
• Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
• During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
• We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.

Personal Independence Payment

• PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
• PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.

Child Maintenance Service

• Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.

Universal Credit

• Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.

• Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.

Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)

Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.

Table 1 - Percentage of new claims that have been completed within the planned processing timescales by benefit.

Comments to note:

• Data has been provided for the years 2016-17 to 2023-24 (UC 2018-19 to 2023-24). Previous years requested are not retained centrally and the breakdown by nation and region for services except UC would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• In the spirit of answering the question we have provided table 1 above.

Service Performance Context:

Jobseekers Allowance

• From the start of the pandemic until April 2021, JSA claims were subject to easements that meant face-to-face appointment was removed. In April 2021, Claimant Commitments and regular face to face engagement requirements were reintroduced.

Employment and Support Allowance

• ESA 2019-20 to 2023-24, the new claim process for New Style Employment and Support Allowance (NSESA) changed. In April 2020 a digital claim was introduced during Covid. Prior to this, as part of the new claim process, a period up to 10 days at beginning was never measured. With the re-designed process all time is included, so it is not possible to make a like-for-like comparison with the new claim process before April 2020.

State Pension

• Performance was severely impacted due to the need to repivot resource to other areas, such as Universal Credit, during the global pandemic. In 2021/22, resource was re-deployed to work through the backlogs. Investment in digital services in this area has also aided recovery leading to significant performance improvements in 2023/24.

Pension Credit

• 2019/20 was impacted by substantial spikes in claims following the BBC decision to remove free TV licences. Uptake in Pension Credit has been encouraged through campaigns and again led to unprecedented claims being received when entitlement was linked to additional Cost of Living payments. This created backlogs and impacted payment timeliness as these were recovered.

Disability Living Allowance (Child)

• Disability Living Allowance ceased in 2013 and is no longer an active benefit, it was replaced by Personal Independence Payment. Disability Living Allowance for Children continues to accept new claims and as such we have responded in respect of this benefit.
• Demand for Child DLA has increased in recent years and is significantly higher than pre-pandemic volumes.
• During 2020-21 we deferred case renewal activity to focus on processing new claims. Since then the service has had to service both high new claims volumes and the deferred renewal work which has led to longer processing times.
• We have increased the numbers of staff working on Child DLA to respond to increase new claims volumes, and clear cases in date order to ensure fair customer service.

Personal Independence Payment

• PIP performance represents a significant recovery compared to prior periods and the lowest average journey time recorded since 2018 (see published statistics)
• PIP New Claims demand is significantly higher than pre-Covid levels, despite the devolution of Scottish claims during this period.

Child Maintenance Service

• Child Maintenance Service application volumes have been sharply increasing with CMS receiving more than 50% more in 2023/24 than in 2021/22. This dip in performance over this time can largely be explained by this. More recently, the removal of the Application fee has also resulted in higher volumes.

Universal Credit

• Data has been provided for the years 2018-19 to 2023-24. Detailed data by local areas is available via Stat Xplore within the Universal Credit Published Statistics (Universal Credit statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)). Previous years requested are not retained centrally or published and the breakdown by nation and region would only be available at a disproportionate cost.

• The 2023-24 figures for UC are not available until May as per the Statistics Release schedule.

• Planned timescales for all benefits are listed in table 2 below.

Table 2: Planned Timescales for new claims (current methodology)

Notes: The planned timescales detailed above relate to those used for the 23/24 financial year. The timescales and methodologies to calculate them have changed over time to reflect new processes, technology and demands on our services.

In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.

The Department allocated the following resources to full time equivalent to the investigation of earnings alerts for carer’s allowance as outlined below;

Data is correct as of March for each of the following Financial Years: (a) 2019/20, (b) 2020/21, (c) 2021/22, (d) 2022/23 and (e) 2023/24.

Figures were derived from the Department’s Activity Based Model (ABM), which provides Full Time Equivalent (FTE) figures based on point in time estimate by Line Managers. They cover only FTE of staff with paid employment.

The number of colleagues employed in these directorates is unpublished management information, collected and intended for internal departmental use and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. As the Department holds the information, we have released it.

The Department monitors a wide range of indicators to understand trends in employment, unemployment and inactivity. This is in line with advice from the ONS who say “we would advise caution when interpreting short-term changes in headline rates and recommend using them as part of our suite of labour market indicators” given the recent volatility in Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates.

DWP supports people across the country to move into and progress in work and is committed to reducing economic inactivity. The Department delivers comprehensive employment support including through face-to-face time with Work Coaches in our Jobcentres and via more intensive contracted employment programmes. Last year we also announced a wide range of additional support via the Spring Budget and the Back to Work Plan including extending and expanding our Restart scheme, announcing our new WorkWell service and expanding Additional Jobcentre Support.

The latest statistics show that in 2022/23, 20% (0.9m) of individuals aged over 60 and not yet eligible for the state pension were living in absolute poverty after housing costs.

Statistics on the number of individuals living in absolute and relative poverty in the UK are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication at Households below average income: for financial years ending 1995 to 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)(opens in a new tab). The latest available data with age breakdowns can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/. The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23.

The Department has seen a sustained increase in applications and demand for DWP services as a result of the pandemic and subsequent cost of living pressures, as well as ongoing publicity campaigns such as Help for Households and Pension Credit take-up.

Whilst we have seen an overall improvement in claims processed within planned timescales, and we expect that overall performance to continue to improve in the 24-25 figures, we acknowledge that across our services more needs to be done to improve the number of claims processed within the planned timescales.

Through recruitment in 23-24 we have started 17,166 people in new roles (and have further candidates due to start in Q1 of 24-25). This level of recruitment has resulted in a net increase in our Service Delivery resource levels to meet customer demand. We also have utilised our existing contracts with external partners to increase our service delivery capacity.

Across our service lines we continue to focus on productivity improvement activities, as well as continuing to modernise our benefit services through our digital transformation and Service Modernisation programmes, which mean an increasing number of claims can now be made online and through self-service. The Department strategy is to continue our modernisation programme, enable our people to focus on supporting more vulnerable customers who are unable to self-serve or need additional support.

No assessment has been made as this is not a matter for the Department for Work and Pensions.

The Ministry of Justice carried out a post-implementation review on the Fraud Act 2006: Post-legislative Assessment of the Fraud Act 2006 (publishing.service.gov.uk) and the Home Office have confirmed that on 12 October 2023 the Government launched the Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences. Part two of the Review will evaluate the operation of the Fraud Act: Independent Review of Disclosure and Fraud Offences - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).’

Fraud and error is £8.3bn and the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and recover overpayments when they occur.

The Department’s priority is to negotiate affordable and sustainable repayment plans that do not cause undue financial hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and encourage customers to contact DWP Debt Management. Debt Management will work with individuals to review their financial circumstances and, in most instances, a temporary reduction in their rate of repayment can also be agreed.

No assessment has been carried out on the potential merits of introducing amnesties.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has not met with the Parliamentary and Health Services Ombudsman since the report into Women’s State Pension age was published on 21 March 2024.

As stated in our previous response to the same question published on 24 April 2024, the Government has no plans to make such an assessment.

Changes to State Pension age were made over a series of Acts by successive governments from 1995 onwards, following public consultations and extensive debates in both Houses of Parliament.

Further changes were introduced through the Pensions Acts 2011 and 2014 in order to protect public finances and maintain the sustainability of the State Pension over the long term.

Under the 2011 Pensions Act the State Pension age for women and men rose to 66.

The rise in State Pension age to 67 has been planned since 2014. Since then, the Government has undertaken two statutory State Pension age reviews, one in 2017 and one in 2023. These reviews both considered whether the existing rules about the timetable for State Pension age rising to 67 remained appropriate.

Both reviews, including the Independent Reports that supported them, concluded that the rules concerning the increase in State Pension age from 66 to 67 should continue as planned.

In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The Department routinely engages with expert stakeholders to inform policy development. For example, to support development of the proposals in the ‘Transforming Support: The Health and Disability White Paper’, officials met and continue to meet with interested stakeholders and welfare recipients with health conditions and disabilities.

Officials meet regularly with clinical stakeholders from a range of specialties, including those with a mental health background from national representative organisations. When undertaking work on mental health specific polices the engagement increases in intensity to ensure the professional voice is heard and advice is taken in the best interests of our claimants.

The Department has an ongoing health and disability benefits research programme including studies with claimants which often look specifically at the treatment of claimants with mental health issues. For example, we will shortly be publishing the Barriers to Accessing Health Support research, which found valuable insight into the health support needs of disability benefit claimants with mental health conditions. Other research has also been designed to include fluctuating mental health conditions, such as anxiety disorders or depression, and cognitive conditions, such as Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

As of 1^st April 2024, there were 32,445 applications awaiting a decision.

Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standard. They should therefore be treated with caution.  

The latest Work and Health Programme statistics to November 2023 are published in the latest statistics on .GOV.UK and in Stat-Xplore.

There are three eligibility groups – disability, early access and long term unemployed. Up to November 2023, 77% of starts were from the disability group. For cohorts starting up to November 2021 (who had been on the programme for 24 months at the time of release) 47% had achieved first earnings and 32% achieved a job outcome. The number of job outcomes achieved in each year can be found in the table below:

Number of WHP job outcomes achieved per year in the disability group

Note: there will also be disabled people in the early access group and long term unemployed, but we are unable to identify those people – therefore these numbers will be underestimates of the total numbers of disabled people who achieve job outcomes.

Further information about definitions are explained in the Work and Health Programme statistics: background information and methodology, in particular:

• First earnings from employment – the point at which a participant achieves their first earnings from their first employment whilst on the programme. A participant may not necessarily go on to achieve a job outcome. Statistics on first earnings from employment do not include earnings from self-employment.

• Job outcomes – a provider is classed as achieving a job outcome when a participant reaches either a specified level of earnings once in employment (which varies across the different areas – see detailed explanation of job outcome expectations for details) or 6 months of being in self-employment.

Universal Support will support up to 100,000 disabled people, people with health conditions and people with additional barriers to employment into sustained work per year, once fully rolled out.

The Department does not hold the data requested.

(i) It is not possible to identify Housing expenditure specifically related to eligible service charges for social housing tenants in our administrative data. We only hold data on the total Housing Benefit awards and expenditure.

(ii) For Universal Credit, it is not possible to split UC housing expenditure into expenditure on eligible service charges specifically.

In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.

The Department does not keep this information centrally and therefore it is not readily available. Providing the information that the Department does hold would incur disproportionate costs.

The department does not hold the information required to answer this request. Please see below a link to a publication from the National Records of Scotland that holds data pertaining to this request.

UK Parliamentary Constituency Population Estimates (2011 Data Zone based) | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk)

Universal Credit operates on postcodes therefore when a claim is made, the individual will be automatically assigned to the Jobcentre which serves that postcode. Customers in Knighton are allocated to Llandrindod Wells Jobcentre Plus.

There are no plans to make a formal assessment.

In 2022/23, there were 200,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10. Our sustained commitment to the triple lock demonstrates our determination to continue to combat pensioner poverty in future. As a result, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is now £3,700 higher, in cash terms, than in 2010.

The information requested is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Pension Credit caseload statistics are routinely published and made publicly available via DWP Stat-xplore.

Stat xplore user guide can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/User-Guide.html

DWP currently has 79,927 Full Time Equivalent (FTE) as at January 24. The proportion of roles in the Department that are vacant is not captured as DWP is currently managing a mix of recruitment to support growth whilst also replacing turnover in priority areas of Service Delivery. DWP is managing efficiencies where posts become vacant in non front line operational areas of the Department and decisions will be made on a case by case basis as to whether they will be recruited for.

The evaluation of the Restart Scheme, including research using geographical case studies, is being used to inform delivery of the Restart programme.

As of the 31st of March, our Targeted Case Review team currently has 3,100 Full Time equivalent agents reviewing Universal Credit claims.

This is the most recent date for which data is available.

The administration of National Insurance Credits is a HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) function. DWP only use the data provided by HMRC.

Please find figures for new staff that have been recruited to work on the Access to Work programme for the last 6 months.

An additional 95 staff will be redeployed to Access to Work in May/June 2024 and another 13 are expected through recruitment in May 2024.

AtW is one of a suite of policies aimed at helping disabled people to enter and thrive in work. Access to Work (AtW) remains in high demand. We have increased the number of staff processing AtW claims and are prioritising renewal applications and those with a job start within four weeks. We are improving the service through increased digitisation to improve the time from application through to decision.

No assessment has been made.

The trailblazers announced at Autumn Statement 2023 will recruit clinical and non-clinical professionals into roles where they will be provided with additional training and support to conduct robust and in-depth work and health conversations with people, who in turn will be provided with advice and guidance on how they might be able to stay in, or return to, work with the support of their employer.

Our ambition is to co-develop a new fit note process delivered through multi-disciplinary teams, bringing together the issuing of fit notes with health and work advice to support people who are at risk of falling out of work or who have already fallen out of work due to ill health.

The Secretary of State, and ministers, regularly meet with organisations representing disabled people, regarding a range of issues, including welfare. Details of ministerial meetings are published quarterly on gov.uk in line with transparency data releases and can be found here: DWP ministerial gifts, hospitality, travel and meetings, - GOV.UK

The requested information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.