Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average length of time is that a person must wait to attend a Work Capability Assessment.

DWP publishes Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) processing times for initial claims on gov.uk, which can be found here. We are currently unable to provide Universal Credit (UC) WCA statistics as these could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

DWP is committed to assessing people as quickly as possible in order that they receive the benefit(s) and support they are entitled to in a timely manner. It is important to remember that claimants will receive the Assessment Rate of ESA/Standard Rate of UC whilst they are awaiting their WCA. Any additional amounts the claimant may qualify for after their assessment, will be backdated where appropriate.