Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what capacity his Department has made available for Work Capability Assessments in the next six months; and what the backlog of cases is.

During the second half of 2024, DWP experienced a much higher level of demand for new Work Capability Assessments (WCA) than envisaged. As a result, 34,000 reassessments built up from individuals reporting a change in their condition before May 2025. We have worked with suppliers to rapidly increase capacity to clear this, including by accelerating the recruitment and training of additional assessors. As of 31 January 2026, 14,000 of these cases remain, and we expect the remainder to be cleared in the coming months.

In the meantime, claimants awaiting a reassessment will continue to receive their current rate. Where a reassessment leads to entitlement to a higher rate of benefit, that rate will be backdated accordingly.

Please note:

• All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 1,000.
• All of the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the Assessment Suppliers
• The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.