§ Mr. OatenTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans her Department has to set target times for processing appeals under the Benefit Integrity Project. [39912]
§ Mr. DenhamWe are committed to looking at various ways of improving the way in which the Benefit Integrity Project operates. For example, from 1 May all review requests will be subject to new faster processes. The aim is to reduce the time taken to process review requests from 10 to 11 weeks to 4 to 5 weeks in the majority of cases. We are also examining ways of speeding up the processing of appeals against decisions made under the Project and discussions have begun with the Independent Tribunal Service.