Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average end-to-end processing time of personal independence payment claims was in April (a) 2016 and (b) 2015; and what steps he is taking to speed up the processing of such claims.

The latest available data on personal independence payment (PIP) processing times, for Great Britain, for both new claims and reassessed claims, can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-april-2016 .

The current processing times represent a stable position for both DWP and our Assessment Providers and reflect the significant progress made to improve the claims process by both parties over the preceding months. We continue to look at all of our processes and activities to identify any further areas for improvement, or to drive out even greater efficiency.