Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he will take to reduce the backlog of people awaiting a Personal Independence Payment claim to be assessed.

We are committed to ensuring people can access financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in a timely manner. Reducing customer journey times for PIP claimants is a priority for the department, and we are working constantly to make improvements to our service.

We always aim 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.

We are continuing to see an improvement in PIP clearance times, with the latest statistics showing that the average end-to-end journey has reduced each quarter from 26 weeks in August 2021, to 16 weeks at the end of October 2022. This is because we are:

• 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 resource; and
• Prioritising new claims, whilst safeguarding claimants awaiting award reviews, who have returned their information as required, to ensure their payments continue until their review can be completed.