Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) what the average waiting time is between a Personal Independence Payment appeal being lodged and his Department submitting its response to HM Courts and Tribunals Service, (b) what the average waiting time is between a Personal Independence Payment appeal being lodged and a tribunal hearing date being set, and (c) what steps he is taking, in collaboration with HMCTS, to reduce these delays for people in Eastleigh constituency.

The mean and median waiting time between a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) appeal being lodged and the Department submitting its response to HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS), for initial clearances and award review clearances in the calendar year 2025, was 5 weeks.

The Department does not hold data on when a tribunal hearing date is set. This information is in the domain of HMCTS.

We are increasing resources available for writing appeal responses by redeploying staff and making overtime available.

We are also looking to make appeal writing more efficient by improving the programme that decision makers use. The improved tool will integrate better with other DWP computer systems, which will make it faster and easier to use than the current process.

We will continue working to make the right decision as early as possible in the claim journey so people get the support they are entitled to without needing to appeal.