Correspondence

The Timms Review: co-chair update, August 2026

Published 12 August 2026

Dear all,

We are writing to update you on the progress of the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) following the publication of our Interim Report in July, and to share more about how we will be involving disabled people and people with long-term health conditions in the next stage of the Review.

We would like to thank everyone who has read and shared the Interim Report. Over the past year, thousands of people have contributed their experience, expertise and insight to this Review. Many of those conversations have been deeply personal. Thank you to everyone who has placed their trust in the Review by sharing their experiences with us.

The Interim Report marked an important milestone in our work. It brought together what we have heard so far. It also set out the evidence that is shaping our thinking and described how the Review has been co-produced from the outset. Most importantly, it has laid the foundation for the next phase of the Review.

Why this Review matters

As we set out in the Interim Report, PIP exists to help D/deaf and disabled people, and people with long-term health conditions, to reduce the inequalities they face in participating in everyday life through a contribution towards the extra costs of disability. At its best, PIP supports dignity, independence and choice and it enables participation.

The evidence we have heard tells us that while PIP remains a vital source of financial support, the current system is not consistently delivering its purpose.

Too many people have described assessment and decision-making processes as stressful, dehumanising and difficult to trust. We have also heard that parts of the PIP system can themselves create additional barriers to participation and independence.

That is not acceptable.

The purpose of this Review is not simply to improve the assessment process. It is to ensure that PIP is fair, accessible and fit for disabled people, so that it is there to support them to participate in day-to-day life and society, today and into the future.

The next phase of the Review

The first phase of the Review focused on understanding people’s experiences and gathering evidence about how the current system operates.

We are now entering the next phase: developing recommendations for reform that will make a real difference to the lives of disabled people and those with long-term conditions.

There are crucial questions and difficult choices still to work through. That is why continued co-production is so important. We want to work alongside disabled people to understand what will work in practice, where unintended consequences may arise, and how proposals can better reflect the realities of everyday life.

Shaping recommendations workshops

A central part of this next phase will be a series of shaping recommendations workshops, taking place across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland during September and October.

These workshops will bring together disabled people and those with long-term health conditions from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences to help shape, test and refine the Review’s emerging recommendations.

We do not expect everyone to agree. Different experiences and perspectives are an important part of this process and will help us develop recommendations that are fair, balanced and grounded in real lives. The steering group is committed to providing clear feedback to each workshop, explaining transparently what was taken forward and what was not, and why.

The workshops will be co-hosted with selected D/deaf and disabled people’s organisations (DDPOs) and charities that are based within the region of each workshop. Their expertise, trusted relationships and commitment to co-production will help make these discussions accessible and inclusive. Further information about the workshops, including accessibility, reasonable adjustments and how to apply, is available on the shaping recommendations workshops page, which can be found at The Timms Review.

Evidence and engagement

The steering group will continue to develop its recommendations by bringing together evidence from a wide range of sources.

We are extremely grateful to everyone who contributed to our Workshop in a Box process. We received feedback from over 130 workshops run by local, regional and national organisations and groups, including DDPOs, charities, carers and disabled people across the UK.

We continue to analyse responses to the Call for Evidence and are engaging with a wide range of experts, including disabled people, DDPOs, elected representatives, charities, researchers and policy specialists.

Alongside this, we are working with the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) on a nationally representative survey of working-age disabled people. This will provide valuable quantitative evidence to complement what we have heard through our wider engagement.

Each of these evidence sources brings a different perspective and we are particularly grateful to those who are sharing their lived experience with us, which helps us understand how policy works in everyday life.

Looking ahead

We know that meaningful co-production is about more than providing input. It is about sharing power, purpose and responsibility to shape decisions. Over the coming months, the steering group will continue working with disabled people to refine its recommendations before submitting its final report to the Secretary of State this autumn.

Our goal is to develop recommendations for a PIP system that is fairer, more accessible and fit for disabled people. A PIP system that better supports disabled people with the additional costs of disability and enables them to live ordinary lives with dignity, independence and choice.

We believe the people who live with the consequences of the system every day should help shape its future.

Thank you for continuing that journey with us.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE
Sharon Brennan
Rt Hon. Sir Stephen Timms MP

Co-chairs of the Timms Review