Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to reduce the waiting times for responses from the Child Maintenance Service.

The Child Maintenance Service (CMS) is committed to delivering our DWP Customer Charter promises and has created a customer-focused continuous improvement culture to support and achieve this.

CMS has made changes to the way they communicate with customers. This includes expanding the facilities offered through the online self-service and web chat, allowing parents to access their account 24 hours a day, seven days a week at a time that works for them. In addition, changes are being made to customer communication content, so they are clearer especially within letters.

CMS regularly review our resourcing strategy against business demands to ensure we best meet customer demand and priorities.

When DWP receive correspondence relating to a complaint, they aim to fully resolve or agree a resolution within 15 working days of receipt. Complex issues may take longer to resolve.

DWP triage complaints giving priority to vulnerable claimants who may be at risk, and those with benefit payment issues. We continue to investigate all complaints as quickly as we can and, as part of the triage process, we write or call those customers and honourable members where there may be a delay in answering their complaint. Case conferences are in place to find swift resolution to aging complaint cases. Complaints are used to provide customer insight to shape future services and drive improvements.

Since 2021, Child Maintenance Service complaints team has seen their response times to complainants steadily improve and are now responding to almost all complaints within the timescale.