Becky MortonPolitical reporter
Getty ImagesSome people are waiting more than a year to have their disability benefit claims processed, which risks pushing them into debt and poverty, MPs have warned.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) aims to process 75% of new claims for Personal Independence Payment (Pip) within 75 working days but in the last financial year only 51% of claims were processed within this timeframe.
A report by the cross-party Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the department was providing “unacceptably poor service levels”.
The DWP said that at the end of October, the average time taken for a Pip claim to be decided on was 16 weeks.
A spokesperson said the department always aimed to process claims “as quickly as possible” and an ongoing review into Pip would make sure “it is fit and fair for the future”.
Pip – which is paid to people with a long-term physical or mental health condition – is the main disability benefit in England and Wales.
It is not linked to someone’s income or whether they are in work and provides extra help with living costs.
The number of people claiming Pip has been rising in recent years, with the benefit paid to around 3.7 million people.
The PAC report said the long waits for Pip claims to be processed were “unacceptable”, with some cases of people waiting for more than a year.
The DWP told the committee these experiences were not showing in its statistics but it acknowledged this was a genuine situation which needed to be addressed.
The department is testing an online application process in a few postcodes, which it says has typically reduced processing time for claims by 20 days.
It had previously told the committee it intended to process up to 20% of Pip claims using the new online service by 2026 but has since said it believes it can reach this target by 2029.
“This is far too long for claimants to have to wait to get a better service,” the report said.
The committee’s chairman, Conservative MP Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, said: “Our committee received reassurances three years ago that improvements would have manifested by now; we are now told that they are a further three years off.
“This is simply not good enough for our constituents, who we know risk being pushed into debt or poverty by a department unresponsive to their needs.”
The report also raised concerns about shortening the first meeting Universal Credit claimants have with a work coach from 50 to 30 minutes.
It warned that without mitigating action from government, “claimants with more complex needs may not get the support they need”.
Last year, the government abandoned plans which would have made it harder for people to claim Pip, in the face of a major rebellion by Labour MPs.
The government had estimated the proposals would have saved £5bn a year by 2030.
Instead it launched a review into Pip, led by Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms, which is expected to report back by the autumn.
The government has said the purpose of the the review is to ensure Pip is “fair and fit for the future rather than to generate proposals for further savings”.
A DWP spokesperson said: “We’re fixing the broken welfare system we inherited by giving claimants the support they need to move into good, secure jobs and out of poverty.
“We’ve redeployed around 1,000 work coaches to help sick or disabled people who have been left behind, alongside the most ambitious employment reforms for a generation.
“These reforms are being delivered as we replace outdated systems through our ambitious £647m modernisation programme.”
