The department agrees with the Committee’s recommendation Recommendation implemented As of 19 October 2021, the department has eighty caseworkers, and expect at least a further thirty-four to join over the next three months from November 2021 to January 2022. The department has plans to hold a large reserve list of candidates so caseworker vacancies created through attrition can be filled more quickly. On 21 July 2021, the department published refreshed caseworker guidance which set out clearly how caseworkers should apply the balance of probabilities and gather additional information and evidence. Whilst the scheme has operated fully on the balance of probabilities since 2020, it is hoped that this refreshed guidance will help to reduce the time taken to process claims and improve customers’ experiences of the Scheme, by ensuring caseworkers ask for the minimum amount of evidence to award the maximum compensation.