Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is between a complaint being accepted by the Independent Case Examiner and the case being allocated to a caseworker; and what the average length of time is between a case being accepted by the Independent Case Examiner and the complainant receiving an outcome.

When the Independent Case Examiner’s Office accept a complaint for investigation, they will initially try to broker a solution between the complainant and the relevant department or supplier, without having to request evidence to inform an investigation – this is known as “resolution”. If it’s not possible to resolve the complaint, the evidence will be requested and the case will await allocation to an Investigation Case Manager (ICM). The cases that reach the Independent Case Examiner are the most complex and usually require investigation. Complainants are kept updated about the timings involved with their case and the vast majority are satisfied with the service they receive.

Based on the complaints that were allocated for investigation during the 2020 calendar year, the average length of wait between the complaint being accepted for examination and it being allocated to an Investigation Case Manager was 64.5 weeks.

During the 2020 calendar year, the average length of time between a case being accepted for examination by the Independent Case Examiner’s Office and the complainant receiving an outcome was 81.4 weeks (this total includes the 64.5 weeks average wait before being allocated to an Investigation Case Manager. It excludes those cases which are resolved without the need for a full investigation).

Whilst the Unit has received additional resource during the current financial year, to help reduce the time complaints wait to be brought into investigation, progress has been constrained by the effects of Covid, which included the redeployment of some staff, and the delay in recruitment of new staff.