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Social Security Benefits: Digital Technology

Asked by Terry JermyLabourDepartment for Work and PensionsTabled Answered 26 March 2025UIN 39674

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of increasing (a) digitalisation and (b) automation in the provision of welfare services.

Answered by Andrew Western

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has already implemented many automation initiatives and remains dedicated to identifying future opportunities for further enhancements. To date, 58 automations have been deployed across the DWP, with 38 of them currently active. These automation processes have handled a total of 44.46 million claims and saved 3.4 million staff hours.


We will continue to explore additional automation and digitisation prospects which will help reduce operating costs, enabling agents to dedicate more time to citizens, and expedite claims processing where possible.

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