Research and analysis

PIP administrative exercise: progress on cases cleared, at 14 June 2019

Updated 2 January 2020

The latest release of this data can be found in the collection of PIP administrative exercise: progress on cases cleared.

Policy background and introduction

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was introduced in April 2013. PIP replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for claimants of working age. PIP is a payment that is based on the overall needs of a claimant.

Two Upper Tribunal judgments mean that there has been a change to the way PIP is assessed.

From 28 November 2016 there was a change to the way the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) considers how overwhelming psychological distress affects a claimant’s ability to plan and follow a journey.

From 9 March 2017 there was a change to the way DWP considers if claimants can complete a PIP activity safely and if supervision is required, by considering both the likelihood of harm occurring, and the severity and nature of the harm that might occur.

The department is carrying out an administrative exercise looking at current PIP claims to check if this change means that claimants are eligible for more support under PIP. The department is also looking at claims decided on or after the Upper Tribunal judgment dates where PIP was not awarded.

This exercise commenced in June 2018.

Purpose of publication

This publication presents DWP management information on progress on checking potentially affected cases as at 14 June 2019. It includes the:

• number of cases completed to date
• number of arrears payments made to qualifying claimants
• total amount of arrears payments made
• average arrears payment made

This publication is an update on progress and follows the initial release of information published on 20 December 2018 (with data at 23 November 2018).

Progress on cases cleared

The department started the checking of cases in June 2018.

The department has prioritised checking the claims of individuals whom we know from our systems to be terminally ill. We are continuously reviewing the process to make sure that we are picking up eligible claimants. We also have a dedicated resource to review cases where the claimant is now deceased to ensure that their next of kin receive payments as quickly as possible.

DWP management information at 14 June 2019 shows:

• around 440,000 cases have been reviewed and cleared
• around 3,500 arrears payments have been made to qualifying claimants
• the total amount of arrears payments the department has paid out to qualifying claimants is around £15 million
• the average arrears payment is around £4,500

Notes about the data

Data is reported without detailed verification.

The figures date from 14 June 2019. They are changing rapidly as we continue to check potentially affected cases.

The number of cases cleared is rounded to the nearest 10,000, the number of arrears payments made is rounded to the nearest 500, the total amount paid is rounded to the nearest £1 million and the average arrears payment is rounded to the nearest £500.

Source: DWP management information from the PIP administrative exercise at 14 June 2019

Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

The Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code) is built around 3 main concepts, or pillars:

• trustworthiness
• quality
• value

The following explains how we have applied the pillars of the Code in a proportionate way.

Trustworthiness – is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics

Progress on the PIP administration exercise is based on DWP management information, supplied via a data capture tool built to allow consistent and efficient recording of case review progress in the PIP administration exercise.

Quality – is about using data and methods that produce assured statistics

The data presented on progress is from the data capture tool developed to accurately record progress and levels of arrears payments. Drop-down menus and validation checks assist in reliable data recording. Data recording checks are carried out by operational staff. DWP analysts have challenged some figures to ensure accurate representations of the activity undertaken and checked some figures against the PIP administrative computer system.

As figures are derived from manually collated administrative data numbers are provided as management information and not official statistics

Value – is about publishing statistics that support society’s needs for information

This release provides a progress update on the PIP administrative exercise, together with context for those figures.

In addition, it aims to reduce the administrative burden of answering Parliamentary questions, Freedom of Information requests and ad hoc queries to ensure timely responses to public queries.

To support financial planning and management of departmental business, figures have been seen in advance by ministers and officials. This is in line with the Code, where pre-release access does not apply for releases based on routine management information – as covered in para 3.6 of the National Statistician’s guidance, February 2018.

Future releases

DWP intends to release future updates on progress in:

• December 2019 – due to restrictions for ad hoc statistical releases during election periods, this progress update will be released in early 2020
• June 2020

Where to find out more

You can find out more in the following publications:

• changes to PIP law from 28 November 2016 and 9 March 2017

• written statements tabled on 19 January 2018, 25 June 2018 and 20 December 2018

• DWP benefit expenditure tables

• initial release of this information published on 20 December 2018 (with data at 23 November 2018)

Contact information

The department will be contacting all those identified as potentially impacted.

For press enquiries, contact DWP Press Office on: 0203 267 5144