Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans his Department has to reduce the number of personal independence payment mandatory reconsiderations.

As part of on-going review and improvement analysis of PIP, we are continuing to make efforts to ensure that our initial decisions are as well informed as they can be and of the highest standard. For example, the department is running a series of trials which looks at the end to end PIP decision making process with a particular focus on MR and explores the different ways we can improve the quality of our decision making.

However, it is important that claimants can request a Mandatory Reconsideration if they are unhappy with the initial decision. Moreover, a request for a Mandatory Reconsideration does not mean the initial decision was not right. Claimants often provide new, relevant evidence at the tribunal stage.