Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what are the average time is for applications submitted to the Access to Work scheme between 1st November 2024 to 21st May 2025 to be (a) completed and (b) awarded.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The average time taken from an application being submitted to a decision being made for both support being approved and support not approved from November 2024 to April 2025 (May 2025 not available until month end)
November 2024 = 75.4 days
December 2024 = 77.3 days
January 2025 = 80.3 days
February 2025 = 84.6 days
March 2025 = 85.9 days
April 2025 = 94.2 days
Please note that the data supplied is derived from unpublished management information, which was collected for internal Departmental use only, and have not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics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.
Asked by: Alex Barros-Curtis (Labour - Cardiff West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what service standard the Child Maintenance Service has to respond to (a) complex casework and (b) complaints submitted between 30 August 2024 to 24 January 2025.
Answered by Andrew Western - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) have service standards for all change of circumstances, these are not categorised as complex as there is no specific criteria to meet, each case is considered on its own merit and circumstances of the case.
Caseworkers strive to manage all casework within the expected service standard time period. If the caseworker has any concerns about making a discretionary decision in cases with unusual or particularly complex circumstances involved, they have access to policy and procedures or may seek appropriate advice from the Advice and Guidance Team.
DWP complaints service standard aim is to contact a customer within 15 working days to tell them of the outcome of their complaint or when they can expect a response if the complaint is complex and will take longer.