Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 July 2014 to Question 203682, whether the Government has met its expectation that no-one is waiting longer than 26 weeks for a personal independence payment assessment.
We are absolutely committed to improving performance and will continue to work to further reduce processing times and levels of work outstanding. Both providers have more than doubled the number of assessment reports they are returning to the Department since January, as shown in the official statistics published in September, and the number of decisions made has further increased over recent months.
Departmental statisticians are continuing to develop measures around clearance times and waiting times to ensure they provide a rounded and representative picture of personal independence payment performance, improvement activity and the claimants’ experience. These statistics will be published when they are ready, with the release pre-announced in line with United Kingdom Statistics Authority release protocols.