Thank you for contacting me about Personal Independence Payment (PIP) delays.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is committed to ensuring people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner. Reducing journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the DWP, which is working constantly to make improvements to the service.
The DWP always aims to make an award decision as quickly as possible, taking into account the need to review all the available evidence, including that from the claimant. The department is continuing to see an improvement in PIP clearance times, with the latest statistics showing that the average end-to-end journey has fallen to 14 weeks as of January 2023 – down from 26 weeks in August 2021. This is because the DWP is:
• Using a blend of phone, video and face-to-face assessments to support customers and deliver a more efficient and user-centred service;
• Increasing case manager and assessment provider health professional resources; and
• Prioritising new claims, while safeguarding claimants awaiting award reviews, who have returned their information as required, to ensure their payments continue until their review can be completed.
Changes in clearance volumes vary for different areas of the department’s workload, as workflows are actively managed to cope with capacity issues. Planned award reviews are currently on hold in some cases, which frees up resources to progress registrations in other parts of the process. Any PIP claimant whose award review is waiting to be processed continues to receive their pre-review level of benefit. Claimants whose needs have changed and who are awaiting a review may instead register a change of circumstance.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.