Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many existing claimants are awaiting a Work Capability Assessment; what the average wait time is; and when he expects the backlog to be cleared.

During the second half of 2024, DWP experienced a much higher level of demand for new Work Capability Assessments (WCA) than envisaged. As a result, 35,000 reassessments built up from individuals reporting a change in their condition before May 2025. We have worked with suppliers to rapidly increase capacity to clear this, including by accelerating the recruitment of assessors. 6,000 of these referrals have already been progressed, and we expect the vast majority of the remainder to be cleared over the next six months.

In the meantime, claimants awaiting a reassessment will continue to be paid their current rate and when an individual is reassessed, if the outcome of the assessment means they are entitled to a higher rate of benefit, that rate will be backdated accordingly.

Please note:

• All of the above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the Assessment Suppliers
• The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.