Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce (1) the waiting time for, and (2) the size of the loans available through, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ budgeting loans scheme.

98 per cent of claims for Social Fund Budgeting Loans are currently made online and the current target for notifying a decision is 8 working days. During 2020/21 the achieved target was 4.68 working days. We expect the performance figures for 21/22 to be published in the New Year. We continually review the delivery of different benefits.

The maximum amount for a Budgeting Loan application is £348 if you’re single, £464 if you have a partner and £812 if you or your partner claim Child Benefit. This ensures that help is available for intermittent expenses that are considered difficult to budget for, whilst ensuring that repayments are affordable as far as possible.