Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the current time being taken to award personal independence payments.

We keep the time taken to process claims under constant review and are absolutely committed to improving performance. We are already seeing improvements to our processes and will continue to work to further reduce processing times and levels of work outstanding.

By the autumn we expect no one to be waiting longer than 26 weeks for an assessment and by the end of the year no longer than 16 weeks, from the point that the Department receives a completed ‘’How Your Disability Affects You’’ form.