Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department have made of the impact of delays to Disability Living Allowance decisions on families caring for children with hidden disabilities in (a) Melksham and Devizes and (b) the UK.

We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through Disability Living Allowance for children (DLAc) in a timely manner. Reducing customer journey times for our claimants is a priority for the Department and we are working to make improvements to our service. Between October 2024 to March 2025, the Department recruited and re-deployed in excess of 100 case managers to improve clearance times for DLAc new claims. Between 1 August 2025 and 31 March 2026, the percentage of DLAc claims cleared within planned timescales rose from 4.7% to 90.7%. More information can be found on Gov.uk: DLA for children for claims cleared between 1 August 2025 and 31 March 2026 - GOV.UK.