The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued a new update on Personal Independence Payment (PIP), revealing that the number of claimants in England and Wales has surpassed four million for the first time. This milestone highlights the growing reliance on disability benefits amid ongoing welfare reform discussions.
Record Number of PIP Claimants
According to statistics released on Tuesday by the DWP, there were 4.01 million PIP claimants in April 2026. This represents an increase of 266,175, or 7%, compared to 3.74 million a year earlier. The number of claimants has approximately doubled since comparable records began in January 2019, when the figure stood at 2.05 million.
The government stated it is working to overhaul a welfare system which "has trapped people in poverty and kept them out of work for too long." A No 10 spokeswoman emphasized that the broken system inherited by the current government wrote off nearly three million people as too sick to work and saw the welfare bill rise by £88 billion over the last parliament.
Demographic Changes Among Claimants
More than half of PIP claimants are aged 50 and over, but this proportion has been declining steadily, falling from 56.4% in January 2019 to 52.2% in April 2026. Teenagers and young adults continue to represent an increasingly significant share of those receiving PIP. Some 16.6% of claimants in April 2026 were aged 16-29, up from 14.5% in January 2019.
A similar increase has been recorded for the 30-44 age group, which accounted for 20.9% in April 2026, up from 18.9% in 2019. By contrast, 45 to 59-year-olds made up 28.9% of claimants in April 2026, down from 37.3% in 2019. The figure for 60 to 74-year-olds has risen over this period, from 29.2% to 31.1%.
Reform and the Timms Review
Last year, ministers were compelled to abandon proposals to reform disability benefits, including for those with mental health conditions, following backbench Labour resistance. Rather than immediate reform, the Timms Review was established to collect opinions on PIP and its operation. Ministers have pledged any modifications to the benefit will be delayed until after that process concludes.
The DWP stated the review will ensure PIP is "fit and fair for the future." An interim progress report from the review is anticipated "in the coming months."
Claim Grant Rates and New Legislation
The latest data revealed that just over a third (36.6%) of new PIP claims in April 2026 were granted, while 61.4% were disallowed and 2.1% were withdrawn. The grant rate for new claims has been on a general downward trajectory over the past two years, having stood at 40.0% in April 2025 and 46.2% in April 2024.
In April 2026, as part of its broader welfare reform agenda, the government introduced new legislation enabling disability claimants to take up work without fear of losing their benefits under the so-called Right to Try scheme. The change means employment will not automatically trigger a benefits reassessment for claimants who are on PIP, Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and the health element of Universal Credit (UC) in England, Wales, and Scotland.
The DWP stated it was fulfilling its commitment to expanding face-to-face assessments and pointed to a slowdown in the growth of the PIP caseload under the current government. A spokesperson for the DWP said: "We're fixing the broken system we inherited by creating a welfare state that works for disabled people and taxpayers and have launched the Timms Review – co-produced with disabled people and their representative organisations – to make sure PIP is fit and fair for the future."
Political Reactions
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said the Conservatives would "review the entire PIP system, remove eligibility for low-level mental health PIP claims, rapidly assess hundreds of thousands of additional claims, and get Britain working again."
