Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are currently waiting for an assessment for personal independence payment in the Halton local authority area; and what the average waiting time for an assessment is in that area.

There are several reasons why a registered claim may not yet have a decision, for example the claimant has not yet returned their additional information form or is awaiting their assessment date, DWP have not yet made a decision on their claim, or the claimant has advised that they wish to withdraw their claim. At the end of March 2014, around 1300 people in the Halton Local Authority had registered a New Claim for PIP and around 400 decisions had been made.

Statistics on clearance times are intended for future publication and the Department's analysts are currently considering what information will be included in the release.