Correspondence

The Timms Review: co-chair update, July 2026

Published 9 July 2026

Dear all,

We are writing to you again as co-chairs of the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) to update you on the progress of our co-production work.

This letter marks a significant moment in the journey of the Timms Review as today the steering group publishes our Interim Report.

This letter provides information about the interim report and also updates on our engagement strategy, much of which is well underway.

Interim Report

The publication of the Interim Report is a major milestone for the Review. The
Report has been published by DWP on GOV.UK on behalf of the steering group, and it provides a public account of the Review’s work to date. As with all of the Review’s public outputs so far, it is provided in full accessible versions.

Based on all the evidence we have seen and heard so far, the report delivers a clear message from the steering group: while PIP is widely valued as a benefit, PIP is not working. It is not working for the people that go through the process, nor for a Government committed to supporting disabled people.

We as a steering group are intent on making changes so that PIP can fulfil its purpose for disabled people and those with long-term conditions, both now and into the future. We know this will require us to be radical in our thinking and bold in our recommendations for reform.

The Interim Report lays out the findings from the Call for Evidence, the first step in our wider evidence and engagement strategy. We extend our sincere thanks to the over 38,000 individuals and organisations who shared their views through this Call for Evidence, which has both informed and strengthened our understanding of the challenges with PIP and the benefits it offers to those in receipt of it.

The Report also includes details on how it is being co-produced, summarises the evidence gathered and engagement conducted so far (recognising there is much more work on this planned), and provides more detail on the themes emerging from the steering group’s work to date. It outlines thinking around the next stages of the Review, including areas where further work is needed before the steering group can make recommendations to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in the autumn.

As part of its annexes, the Report also includes an existing Evidence Pack compiled by the DWP, which was provided to the steering group as a starting point for further evidence gathering. Neither the Call for Evidence nor the DWP existing Evidence Pack are meant to act as a single source of the truth but are shared as part of the Review’s commitment to openness and transparency. We will continue to examine new evidence throughout the process, both from our engagement work and from other published research. We will continue to share outputs from the Review’s wider engagement as the other elements of this progress and inform the steering group’s thinking.

You can find further detail and the full findings in the Interim Report on GOV.UK.

Evidence and Engagement

The steering group has always been clear that it wants to hear from many different perspectives as possible via a range of routes, and we have designed our six-part engagement and evidence gathering strategy with this in mind. Having multiple avenues of engagement ensures that those who do wish to participate can do so in a way that works for them.

Launched over a month ago, our Workshop in a Box offer is well underway, providing organisations with flexible and accessible resources to facilitate conversations about experiences of the PIP system. This means an opportunity for organisations – including D/deaf and Disabled People’s Organisations (DDPOs), disability or health charities, community groups, and elected representatives – to engage with their networks and members to share their views with the Review and to submit insights from their workshops ahead of the 17 July 2026 deadline. We will shortly begin reviewing this evidence. This is just one of our accessible and inclusive engagement and evidence-gathering opportunities, which are designed to ensure that people with lived experience, including those from minoritised communities, have meaningful ways to shape the Review in a way that works for them.

We are also beginning to invite a variety of experts to share evidence with the steering group in roundtables and Q&A sessions, including sessions with DDPOs and think tanks, parliamentary and devolved government representatives, and clinical and legal professionals who have experience and insight into the system. The steering group is seeking their insights on what they think a redesigned PIP system could look like, and what outcomes it should aim towards, as we work towards recommendations. We will continue to reach out to a wide variety of experts to share their lived expertise and professional expertise with the steering group over the summer.

Further evidence-gathering and engagement is planned for later this summer. As outlined in our April 2026 letter, this includes a large, representative survey of working age people with disabilities and health conditions, from a pre-existing sample held by the research contractor National Centre for Social Research. This will improve our evidence base on topics such as independent living (including the role of PIP), take-up of PIP and equity, take-up of government support and other disability services, fluctuating conditions and disabled people’s views on reform. The steering group will consider findings of the survey research in September with the data and outcomes published in autumn.

Beyond this, we previously set out that we would be running a series of deliberative events to test ideas and refine the Review’s recommendations. These events, which will now be called ‘Shaping Recommendations Workshops’, will take place virtually and in-person across the UK, so that disabled people and others have an opportunity to influence the Review’s emerging recommendations. These workshops will be vital to ensuring any recommendations are fair and have a meaningful impact on people’s lives.

Looking Ahead

As we move forwards in this crucial work, we remain ever grateful for your engagement and contributions. Your continued interaction is essential to the Review’s progress, and we look forward to offering further opportunities to be involved as this work continues.

With your input, we can work to create a fairer, more effective and more equitable system.

Yours sincerely,

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

Co-chairs of the Timms Review