Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that frontline call handling staff have (a) accurate and (b) up-to-date information on expected timelines for responses from (i) decision-making teams and (ii) complaints handling units (A) in general and (B) for Universal Credit queries; and if his Department will update call scripts to include standardised guidance on wait times.

There is clear guidance available to all staff regarding complaint handling and the expected timeframe for responding to complaints, which is accessible via the Department’s intranet.

The Department aims to respond to complaints within 15 working days. Where this is not possible, such as in complex cases, the Department remains committed to providing a response at the earliest opportunity.

DWPs complaints procedure is available to the public on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure#guidance-on-how-to-complain).