Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the current (a) mean average and (b) longest waiting time for a Work Capability Assessment reassessment.

The Department for Work and Pensions is committed to reducing waiting times for claimants awaiting a WCA reassessment. The department is increasing assessment capacity by working with suppliers to expand their workforce, including through accelerated recruitment and training of additional assessors. These measures will help ensure that the department continues to prioritise assessments for new claims, while also increasing throughput of reassessment activity.

From 1 January 2018 to 31 January 2026, the mean average working days for outstanding Work Capability Assessment (WCA) reassessments currently stands at 290 days, whilst the current longest waiting time for an outstanding WCA reassessment to be completed is 1,870 working days (3 December 2018).

Please note

• All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 10.
• All the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the Assessment Providers.
• The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal Departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.
• The date range for the mean average working days for outstanding WCA reassessments 1 January 2018 to 31 January 2026 has been used because the outstanding cases within our head of work can be traced back to 1 January 2018.