Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Personal Independence Payments: Processing Times

Monday 5 December 2022 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Recent assessment shows average new claim process time for personal independence payments reduced from 26 weeks in August 2021 to 18 weeks in October 2022.
  • Progress is being made to extend the severe conditions criteria in the PIP system to potentially remove 300,000 unnecessary assessments.
  • Announcement was made in the health and disability green paper to test a new severe disability group.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Justin Tomlinson Con
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP inquired about recent evaluations of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) process efficiency, focusing on the duration it takes for applicants to receive their benefits.

Question

What recent assessment has been made of the adequacy of processing times for personal independence payments?

Answer from Tom Pursglove

We are committed to ensuring that people can access financial support through PIP in a timely manner. By prioritising new claims, increasing resources and using different assessment channels, we reduced the average new claim process from 26 weeks in August 2021 to 18 weeks in October 2022.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific ask was for a recent evaluation of processing times adequacy, but the answer provided general information on improvements without addressing whether these times are adequate now.

How: We Are Committed To

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Q2 Justin Tomlinson Con
Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP asked about progress on extending severe conditions criteria for Personal Independence Payments, referencing lessons from changes to special rules for terminally ill individuals. The aim is to eliminate 300,000 unnecessary assessments.

Question

Capacity is key to assessment. What progress is being made to extend the severe conditions criteria in the PIP system, learning the lessons of the changes we have made to the special rules for the terminally ill, which would potentially allow us to remove 300,000 unnecessary assessments from the system, benefiting claimants and the taxpayer?

Answer from Tom Pursglove

I am hugely grateful to my hon. Friend, who is of course a distinguished former Minister for disabled people and whose views on these matters I listen to incredibly carefully. We announced in “Shaping future support: the health and disability green paper” that we will test a new severe disability group, so that those with severe and lifelong conditions can benefit from a simplified process to access PIP, employment and support allowance and universal credit without needing to go through a face-to-face assessment or frequent reassessments. We will consider the test results, once they are complete, to influence thinking on the next stages of this work.

Answered
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