The Department aims to respond to complaints within 15 working days or, where a case will take longer than 15 days to respond to, set a resolution plan with the customer where cases are complex and may take longer. A resolution plan is a clear outline of how we will address and resolve a complaint. It sets out what actions will be taken, who is responsible, and the expected timescales for completing these actions.

Complaints about the Child Maintenance Service (CMS) are handled in line with the Department's complaints process. The Department keeps its processes under continual review and continues to improve the customer experience through wider service modernisation and quality improvement activity. As part of CMS’s ambition to continuously improve the service provided to customers, they will look for and action improvements to processes including complaints as part of the normal activities.

The Department recognises the important role of the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) in providing an independent review of complaints where customers remain dissatisfied after exhausting the Department's complaints process. The CMS works closely with ICE and considers the findings and recommendations arising from its investigations to identify opportunities for service improvement and to enhance the service provided to customers.

Currently 93.88 full time equivalents work for the Independent Case Examiner’s Office.

The overall costs for the 25/26 financial year were £4.8m.

As of 30 June 2026, Universal Credit cases being investigated by the Independent Case Examiner’s (ICE) office had waited an average of 28 weeks from receipt to the start of the investigation.

The Independent Case Examiner office regularly reviews its processes and operating model to improve productivity and reduce the length of time investigations take to be concluded, without compromising quality.

Most recently it has revamped how it triages cases to make the service as efficient as possible. This activity, coupled with additional recruitment, will support the reduction of waiting times.

The average time taken from complaint receipt to allocation to an investigator (based on cases in investigation on 31 January 2026) was 26.62 weeks. Despite increased demand levels, this is a significant improvement compared to January 2024, when the average wait time was 56.08 weeks.

Of those cases in investigation on 31 January 2026, the case which had waited the longest took 45.29 weeks to be allocated to an investigator from the date it was received at ICE.

The Independent Case Examiner’s office continually seeks to improve further.

The average time taken from complaint receipt to allocation to an investigator (based on cases in investigation on 31 January 2026) was 26.62 weeks. Despite increased demand levels, this is a significant improvement compared to January 2024, when the average wait time was 56.08 weeks.

Of those cases in investigation on 31 January 2026, the case which had waited the longest took 45.29 weeks to be allocated to an investigator from the date it was received at ICE.

The Independent Case Examiner’s office continually seeks to improve further.

As of 31 October 2025, Child Maintenance Service (CMS) cases in investigation waited an average of 25 weeks from the date they were received by the Independent Case Examiner’s office to the date they were allocated to an Investigator. This is a significant improvement compared to January 2024, when CMS cases in investigation had waited an average of 66 weeks from receipt date to the date they were allocated to an Investigator. The Independent Case Examiner’s office continually seeks to improve this further.

In CMS cases cleared between 01/04/25 – 31/10/25, it took an average of 33 weeks from the date complaints were received into the Independent Case Examiners office to the date a decision was made and issued. The 33 weeks is made up of 25 weeks awaiting allocation to an Investigator and 8 weeks in investigation.

As of 31 October 2025, Child Maintenance Service (CMS) cases in investigation waited an average of 25 weeks from the date they were received by the Independent Case Examiner’s office to the date they were allocated to an Investigator. This is a significant improvement compared to January 2024, when CMS cases in investigation had waited an average of 66 weeks from receipt date to the date they were allocated to an Investigator. The Independent Case Examiner’s office continually seeks to improve this further.

In CMS cases cleared between 01/04/25 – 31/10/25, it took an average of 33 weeks from the date complaints were received into the Independent Case Examiners office to the date a decision was made and issued. The 33 weeks is made up of 25 weeks awaiting allocation to an Investigator and 8 weeks in investigation.

ICE does not accept every case that it receives, for example, ICE cannot accept a case until it has exhausted DWP’s complaints process (premature referrals), nor can it accept those outside its jurisdiction.

ICE only considers complaints about maladministration or service failures and cannot deal with complaints about matters of law, that are, or have been, subject to legal proceedings, about how any of the businesses fulfil their responsibilities as an employer or any that involve the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman or the Northern Ireland Ombudsman.

Once a case has been accepted, if appropriate, ICE will attempt to broker a resolution with the customer before gathering all of the evidence relating to the case. Where resolution cannot be reached, evidence is collated, and an investigation is conducted. On the basis of findings made, the case may be upheld/partially upheld in favour of the customer or not upheld. The number of cases received, accepted, and upheld/partially upheld, is in the table below.

*ICE reviews complaints made by customers of the Department for Work and Pensions (which includes the Child Maintenance Service), Northern Ireland Department for Communities – benefits, pensions and child maintenance only, contracted DWP services and Pension Protection Fund.

The rate at which complaints can be allocated to an investigator is dependent on multiple factors including the volume and complexity of complaints received, as well as available investigative resource.

ICE is a demand led service and continues to receive high complaint intake volumes. It has experienced a 37% increase in referrals since April 2022, with an 18% increase in the 2023/24 operational year. Not all referrals into ICE are accepted for investigation. ICE has experienced an 83% increase in the volume of cases it has accepted since April 2020, with a 9% increase in the 2023/24 operational year.

The ICE office continues to review its process and operating model and continuously seeks opportunities to maximise productivity, ensuring it operates with optimum investigative resource. In the past 20 months (August 2022 – March 2024) resource levels at the ICE office have increased by 18%. The unit is operating at 99.11% of its agreed headcount.

The Office has reduced the volume of cases awaiting allocation to an investigator by 49% over the 2023/24 operational year. The combined number of cases being handled by the ICE Office at the end of March 2024 was 1462, this represents a 33% reduction from March 2023 despite the high intake levels experienced.

The Office of the Independent Case Examiner holds correspondence data on:

• a) the time taken to respond to customers on the results of initial checks from receipt of a complaint; and
• b) the time taken to respond to complaints about its own service.

From 1 April – 30 September 2023:

• the average time ICE took to respond to correspondence on ‘a’ was 3 working days; and
• the average time ICE took to respond to correspondence on ‘b’ was 6 working days.

ICE’s service standards for ‘a’ and ‘b’ are 10 and 15 working days, respectively.

On 2 October, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a value for money audit of all EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion) spending in the Civil Service. The audit will dovetail with the public sector productivity review, aiming at delivering a leaner, more efficient government. The audit forms part of our drive to improve productivity across the public sector by driving down waste and improving performance. The findings and actions of the audit will be announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn.

The ICE office continuously reviews its processes and operating model to improve productivity and reduce the length of time investigations take to be concluded, without compromising quality.

The overall ICE process has several stages. Once a case has been accepted, ICE will attempt to resolve it without a full evidence gather. If a resolution cannot be brokered, the case awaits allocation to an investigator who will judge first, once the evidence is available, whether the complaint can be settled. If this is not appropriate, or if settlement action cannot be agreed with the customer, an investigation is conducted and findings are made.

Since April 2022 ICE has recruited an additional 18 investigators who will become increasingly productive as they consolidate initial training. A further 5 staff are due to join the team from July. Additional resource will be focused on CMS work.

The ICE process has several stages. Once a case has been accepted, ICE will attempt to resolve it without a full evidence gather. If a resolution cannot be brokered, the case awaits allocation to an investigator who will judge, once the evidence is available, whether an attempt to settle without a full investigation is appropriate. If this is not appropriate, or if settlement action cannot be agreed with the complainant, a full investigation is conducted.

The rate at which complaints can be allocated to an investigator depends on a number of factors, including the volume and complexity of complaints received, as well as available investigative resource.

Post-Covid, ICE has seen an increased number of referrals accompanied by an increase in the number of cases it has accepted. In the year April 2021 to March 2022, there was a 17% increase in the number of complaints being referred to ICE and a 68% increase in the number of complaints being accepted for examination, compared to the previous reporting year. In 2022-23 ICE received and accepted broadly similar volumes of cases referred and accepted.

The average time taken, as of 23 May 2023, from complaint receipt to allocation to an investigator (based on all current live cases being investigated) is 71 weeks for CMS cases.

The ICE office is continuously reviewing its processes and operating model to improve productivity and reduce the length of time investigations take to be concluded, without compromising quality. Since 1 April 2022, the ICE office has recruited an additional 18 investigators who will become increasingly productive as they consolidate initial training. A further 5 staff are due to join the team from July. Additional resource will be focused on CMS work.

The ICE process has several stages. When a referral is received the team initially considers whether, without undertaking a detailed examination of the evidence, a resolution can be brokered with the relevant department or its supplier. If resolution cannot be achieved, and the complaint is accepted, the case awaits allocation to an investigator who, following a review of the evidence, will first consider if settlement is appropriate. This requires the relevant department or its supplier to agree action with the complainant. Full investigation reports of detailed findings and any recommendations for redress are based on a thorough examination of case evidence.

The ICE office continues to review its internal processes and structures to make the most efficient use of its investigative resource. Between 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023, the office has recruited an additional 18 Investigators and is seeking to recruit up to its agreed headcount.

DWP publishes complaints received data on a quarterly basis on Gov.uk. The data is currently published up to December 2022 and is available here.

The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) publishes complaints received and accepted data on a quarterly basis on Gov.uk. The data is currently published up to December 2022 and is available here. The number of approaches received into the ICE office is much higher than the number accepted due to premature or inappropriate referrals which do not progress to be considered for investigation. Please note, the published ICE figures do not include any acceptances for complaints relating to providers delivering contracted DWP services or Northern Ireland Department for Communities.

DWP publishes complaints received data on a quarterly basis on Gov.uk. The data is currently published up to December 2022 and is available here.

The Independent Case Examiner (ICE) publishes complaints received and accepted data on a quarterly basis on Gov.uk. The data is currently published up to December 2022 and is available here. The number of approaches received into the ICE office is much higher than the number accepted due to premature or inappropriate referrals which do not progress to be considered for investigation. Please note, the published ICE figures do not include any acceptances for complaints relating to providers delivering contracted DWP services or Northern Ireland Department for Communities.

The table below shows the number of complaints accepted by the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) for each year from 2018-19 and for this year up to 23 February for DWP including Child Maintenance Service (CMS), and for CMS only. To clarify, the number accepted is not the same as the number received by ICE.

To note, this data does not include all cases accepted by ICE, as it also investigates complaints about organisations who deliver contracted DWP services, the Northern Ireland Department for Communities and the Northern Ireland Child Maintenance and Enforcement Division.

ICE retains information on individual cases for 18 months from the date of clearance. Of the DWP cases (excluding CMS cases) currently under investigation, 115 waited longer than 12 months from the date of receipt (this is not the same as the date cases were accepted) to the date they were allocated to an investigator. Of the DWP cases (excluding CMS cases) cleared in the last 18 months, 558 had waited more than 12 months from the date of receipt (this is not the same as the date cases were accepted) to the date they were allocated to an investigator.

Of the CMS cases currently under investigation, 243 waited longer than 12 months from the date of receipt (this is not the same as the date cases were accepted) to the date they were allocated to an investigator. Of the CMS cases cleared in the last 18 months, 627 had waited more than 12 months from the date of receipt (this is not the same as the date cases were accepted) to the date they were allocated to an investigator.

The ICE office is continuously reviewing its own processes and operating model to improve productivity. The office recruited 11 more investigators April – December 2022, and a further 6 joined in January 2023.

Post-Covid, ICE has seen an increased number of referrals accompanied by an increase in the number of cases it has accepted. In the year April 2021 to March 2022, there was a 17% increase in the number of complaints being referred to ICE and a 68% increase in the number of complaints being accepted for examination, compared to the previous reporting year.

The average time taken from complaint receipt to allocation to an investigator (based on all current live cases being investigated), on 23 February 2023, was 46 weeks (68 weeks for CMS cases, 47 weeks for DWP cases and 25 weeks for Provider cases). Northern Ireland cases have not been included.

The rate at which complaints can be allocated to an investigator is dependent on multiple factors, including the volume and complexity of complaints received, as well as available investigative resource.

The ICE office is continuously reviewing its own processes and operating model to improve productivity and reduce the length of time investigations take to be concluded. The office recruited 11 more investigators April – December 2022, and a further 6 joined in January 2023.

There is no service standard for the period of time a complaint is awaiting allocation to an investigator. This is because ICE has no control over the number of complaints it receives, which can vary significantly from month to month and year to year. Other factors which affect the rate of allocation of complaints are the complexity of the individual complaint to be investigated, the evidence required to do that, the available investigative resource and the volume of work on hand. The ICE office is, nevertheless, continuously reviewing its processes and operating model to improve productivity.