Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to recommendation eight of the Government’s response to the Second Independent Review of the Personal Independence Payment Assessment, Cm 9540, what the optimum timeframe is for the completion of assessment reports after the assessment has taken place.

There are a number of factors that impact on the length of time taken to complete the report following the assessment, for example, whether the assessment was conducted in a person’s home or at an assessment centre. As the Second Independent Review of PIP acknowledged, the logistics in organising and conducting home visits will introduce some time delay in writing up reports immediately after the assessment.

The Department expects assessment reports to be completed in a timely manner following the assessment but does not set a fixed timeframe for the completion of assessment reports following the assessment.