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Written question asked by Bishop of Durham (Bishops (affiliation)) on Thursday, 8 December 2022, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 22 December 2022. It was answered by Baroness Stedman-Scott (Conservative) on Wednesday, 21 December 2022 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.


Budgeting Loans

Question

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.

Answer

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.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL4148
Session
2022-23
Subjects
Budgeting loans
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk