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Written question asked by Fabian Hamilton (Labour) on Tuesday, 25 March 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 27 March 2025. It was answered by Stephen Timms (Labour) on Tuesday, 1 April 2025 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.


Personal Independence Payment

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to improve the PIP assessment process for (a) all claimants and (b) claimants with fluctuating conditions.

Answer

It is important that all people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) are able to access our services and that they do not face obstacles in applying and communicating with the Department and its providers.

In the Green Paper Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working published on 18 March we outline plans to improve the experience for people who use the health and disability benefits system, including exploring ways to use evidence from eligibility for other services to reduce the need for some people with very severe conditions to undergo a full PIP functional assessment, digitalising the transfer of information from the NHS (with consent) to speed up the process of assessment, and look at recording assessments as standard to increase trust in the process.

We also announced plans to launch a process to review the PIP assessment. We will bring together a range of experts, stakeholders and people with lived experience to consider how best to do this and to start the process as part of preparing for a review. We will provide further details as plans progress.

The Health Transformation Programme is also transforming the entire PIP service, including introducing the option to apply and track applications online. The transformed service will improve how we gather health information, and tailor the process to the customer’s needs and circumstances, offering a better customer experience and improving trust in our services and decisions.


Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
40998
Session
2024-26
Related items
Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working
Tuesday, 18 March 2025
Command papers
House of Commons
House of Lords
Subjects
Eligibility Personal independence payment
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk