Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are awaiting a work capability assessment as of 15 December 2021; and what the average waiting time is for a claimant in the latest period for which that data is available.

The number of outstanding Work Capability Assessment (WCA) referrals as of 15 December 2021 is 335,500. This includes claimants who have been asked to return a Capability for Work questionnaire and have yet to do so. Not all these cases will require the claimant to attend an assessment and where there is sufficient evidence, claims will be assessed on a paper basis. DWP closely monitors the levels of outstanding referrals.

DWP publishes Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) WCA processing times for initial claims on gov.uk, which can be found here. We are currently unable to provide Universal Credit (UC) WCA statistics as these could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

DWP is committed to assessing people as quickly as possible in order that they receive the benefit(s) and support they are entitled to in a timely manner. It is important to remember that claimants will receive the Assessment Rate of ESA/Standard Rate of UC whilst they are awaiting their WCA. Any additional amounts the claimant may qualify for after their assessment, will be backdated where appropriate.

Please note

Figure has been rounded to the nearest 100.

The above data is derived from contractual management information produced by the assessment providers.

The above data is derived from unpublished management information which is collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.