A committee of MPs has warned that delays in processing claims for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are unacceptable and risk pushing claimants into poverty. The Public Accounts Committee report, published today, found that only 51% of PIP claims were processed within 75 working days in 2024-25, well below the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) target of 75%.
The report stated: "It is unacceptable how long some PIP claimants are having to wait for their claims to be processed, which can cause them to get into debt and push them into poverty. The Department does not have an adequate plan to improve this in the short term." MPs on the committee said they knew of constituents who had waited over a year for their claims to be processed.
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said disability claimants "may now expect a reliably poor service" from the DWP. He added that the committee had received reassurances three years ago that improvements would have manifested by now, but have been told they are a further three years off. "This is simply not good enough for our constituents, who we know risk being pushed into debt or poverty by a Department unresponsive to their needs," he said.
The committee has called on the DWP to provide more detailed data on waiting times, including the longest wait recorded in 2024-25. PIP is the main disability benefit to help with extra living costs and is paid to people both in and out of work. The benefit was the subject of a Labour rebellion last summer, which forced the government to abandon plans to restrict eligibility. Instead, a review led by DWP minister Sir Stephen Timms is expected to report back in the autumn.
A DWP spokeswoman said: "We’re fixing the broken welfare system we inherited by giving claimants the support they need to move into good, secure jobs and out of poverty. We’ve redeployed around 1,000 work coaches to help sick or disabled people who have been left behind, alongside the most ambitious employment reforms for a generation." She added that the department always aims to make PIP award decisions as quickly as possible, and the Timms Review is looking at PIP as a whole to ensure it is fit and fair for the future.
