§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (1) what estimate he has made of the average time taken to deal with an application made using the Pension Credit telephone application line; [128745]
(2) what targets he has set for dealing with applications made using the Pension Credit telephone application line. [128746]
§ Mr. PondThe average time to complete a Pension Credit application for customers using the telephone application line is currently about 20 minutes. Reliable information on the time taken to process applications is not yet available. However, the Department's published Service Delivery Agreement includes a three-year target to ensure that Pension Credit applications are processed on average within 10 days once the necessary information and evidence has been obtained.