Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to reduce delays in Work Capability Assessments for existing claimants who have reported a deterioration in their health.

The Department prioritises Work Capability Assessments (WCA) for new benefit claims (and for individuals already receiving UC who join the UC health journey) in order to assess these individuals’ capability for work at the earliest opportunity. This is so they get the right benefit entitlement and the right labour market support as soon as possible.

During the second half of 2024, DWP experienced a much higher level of demand for new WCAs than envisaged. As a result, 35,000 reassessments built up from individuals reporting a change in their condition before May 2025. We have worked with suppliers to rapidly increase capacity for clearing this backlog, including by accelerating the recruitment of assessors. 6,000 of these referrals have already been progressed, and we expect most of the remainder to be cleared over the next six months.