Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will increase the number of call operators employed to process universal credit claims.

The Universal Credit service monitors the level of telephone calls every day to ensure appropriate levels of resource are in place, and has the flexibility to deploy additional people at short notice if needed. There are also plans in place to increase resource to meet the rise in demand as Universal Credit roles out.