Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many days on average it takes between receipt of an application by his Department from an applicant habitually resident in the UK and the date of first payment of (a) maternity grant, (b) maternity allowance and (c) maternity pay.

a) Average Actual Clearance Times (AACT) figures for Sure Start Maternity Grants (SSMGs) are published in Section 4.11 of the Annual Report by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the Social Fund 2015-16 https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/552482/social-fund-annual-report-2015-2016.pdf

These figures show the time from receipt of application to the payment being released. In 2015-16, this was 3.54 days. It then takes 3 working days to arrive in the claimant’s bank account.

Before a person can qualify for SSMG they have to be in receipt of a qualifying benefit. In order for the qualifying benefit to be paid, the claimant would need to have passed the Habitual Residence test for that qualifying benefit. Therefore all claimants in receipt of SSMG are habitually resident.

b) The Average Actual Clearance Time (AACT) for Maternity Allowance (MA) for 2015/16 was 9.76 days. This shows the average time between receipt of the MA1 claim form and the decision to entitlement. The time taken to payment will depend on the circumstances of each case. The mother can apply for MA once she is 26 weeks pregnant. Payment can start any time between 11 weeks before the baby is due and the day after the baby is born, and is made when the mother leaves work.

c) Women wishing to claim Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) do so directly to their employer and are paid SMP as part of their pay. DWP does not deal with these cases, and holds no information on timescales for payment.

Habitual residence is not a qualifying condition for SMP or MA, entitlement to which is based on employment, earnings and National Insurance Contributions.