Official Statistics

Personal Independence Payment statistics to January 2021

Published 16 March 2021

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

The latest release of these statistics can be found in the collection of Personal Independence Payment statistics.

Frequency: Quarterly
Coverage: Great Britain
Next Release: 15 June 2021

1. Main Stories

Latest Personal Independence Payment (PIP) statistics show ongoing disruption from the changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in some parts of the PIP process, but recovery in others.

Activity initiated by customers is higher than the same quarter a year earlier for registrations of new claims and changes of circumstances, though registrations for Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs) remain low. In the quarter ending January 2021 there were:

• 140,000 registrations for new claims (5% higher than a year earlier)
• 22,000 reported changes of circumstance (18% higher than a year earlier)
• 59,000 MR registrations (three quarters - 75% - of the level a year earlier)

Planned award reviews and some DLA reassessment activity restarted during July 2020. In the quarter ending January 2021 there were:

• 25,000 registrations for DLA reassessments (4% lower than a year earlier)
• 110,000 planned award review registrations (14% lower than a year earlier)

As at 31 January 2021 there were 2.6 million claimants entitled to PIP (caseload), with one in three normal rules cases (33%) receiving the highest level of award.

From April 2013 to January 2021:

• 5.7 million claims to PIP were registered
• 5.4 million claims have been cleared, with 42% of normal rules new claims, 71% of normal rules DLA reassessment claims, and 99% of SRTI claims receiving an award (excluding withdrawn claims)
• 1.4 million claims had a planned award review registered
• 370,000 claims reported a change in circumstances
• 1.8 million MRs have been registered and cleared, with 52% of MR decisions in January 2021 resulting in a change in award (excluding withdrawn MRs)

For initial decisions following a PIP assessment during April 2013 to September 2020:

• 40% of completed MRs against initial decisions following a PIP assessment went on to lodge an appeal
• 13% of appeals lodged saw DWP change the decision in the customer’s favour before the appeal was heard at tribunal (known as “lapsed” appeals)
• 5% of initial decisions were overturned (revised in favour of the customer) at a tribunal hearing

2. What you need to know

This summary contains official statistics on Personal Independence Payments (PIP). PIP helps with some of the extra costs caused by long-term disability, ill-health or terminal ill-health. From 8 April 2013 DWP started to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for working age people with PIP.

The release includes PIP claims for both new customers and those with an existing entitlement for DLA (known as DLA reassessments). The majority of all claims fall under normal rules, while a small proportion fall under special rules for terminal illness (SRTI).

The statistics cover the PIP customer journey from registration through to decision, ongoing entitlement, award review, mandatory reconsideration (MR) and appeal. They include volumes of claimants entitled to PIP at a point in time (caseload), registrations and clearances for different stages of the journey (initiation of claims, award reviews and MRs), outcomes at clearance and median clearance times, plus customer journey statistics tracking initial decisions following a PIP assessment.

COVID-19 changes to 31 January 2021

In response to COVID-19, DWP made a number of changes to its benefit processes to ensure people who need financial help have access to the benefit system in a timely way:

• DWP decided to temporarily suspend face-to-face health assessments. This was to reduce the risk of exposure to coronavirus and safeguard the health of those claiming health and disability-related benefits, many of whom are likely to be at greater risk due to their pre-existing health conditions. New claims and changes of circumstances were still accepted and payments continued to be made
• DWP also suspended all routine re-assessments and reviews of disability benefits – i.e. DLA to PIP reassessments and routine award reviews for those already claiming PIP. All PIP award reviews and DLA to PIP reassessments which had not yet had an assessment booked were delayed and existing awards due to expire were automatically extended to ensure continuity of financial support. Planned award reviews and some DLA reassessment activity resumed during July 2020
• COVID-19 provisions were put in place in March 2020 and the department continues to review and amend working practices where appropriate

Summary of Customer Journey

During the current COVID-19 pandemic, some of the steps that a PIP claimant would follow have been changed. A typical customer journey is as follows, with COVID-19 changes highlighted:

1. Claimant registers their claim to PIP

2. DWP issues the “How your disability affects you” (PIP2) form, for completion by the claimant

3. Claimant completes and returns PIP2 form – this can lead to: a) automatic referral to the Assessment Provider (AP); b) disallowance of the claim based on the information in the PIP2 form; or c) disallowance of the claim if the claimant fails to return the PIP2 form without being identified as having additional support needs

4. Under normal circumstances, the claimant may have their claim assessed based on the paper evidence already submitted, or may be called for a face-to-face assessment conducted by the AP. However, under COVID-19 provisions, telephone assessments have replaced the face-to-face channel. The claimant may: a) attend and participate in their assessment; or b) fail to attend or participate in the assessment, which can lead to disallowance

5. DWP makes a decision based on the AP advice and any additional evidence received. The outcome may be: a) an award (including a monetary amount of the award for both Daily Living and Mobility components, the award type and, if appropriate, the period of time that should be allowed before a review of the award takes place); or b) a disallowance due to failing the assessment

6. Payment commences

7. When the claim is in payment, a claimant must report any changes of circumstance relating to the claim, and this may lead to a review of the award

8. Claims may undergo a planned award review when they reach the end of their review period (unless they received an ongoing award, where they’ll receive a light touch review after 10 years)

9. In the case of a reported change of circumstance or a planned award review, an “AR1” form is issued

10. If the claimant disagrees with a decision on their claim, including where an award has been given, they can ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR)

11. After the MR has been completed, if the claimant still disagrees with the decision they are able to lodge an appeal with HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS)

12. Some appeals are cleared without a tribunal hearing, where the following outcomes are possible: a) withdrawn by the customer, or struck out by the tribunal; or b) lapsed - where DWP change the decision in the customer’s favour

13. Some appeals are cleared at a tribunal hearing, where the following outcomes are possible: a) DWP decision upheld by the tribunal; or b) DWP decision overturned by the tribunal. Under COVID-19 provisions, face to face hearings were replaced by telephone or video hearings, alongside paper-based hearings

Figures in this bulletin are rounded in accordance with the DWP rounding policy. As a result, unrounded figures from the underlying data available on Stat Xplore or in accompanying tables may not sum exactly to the rounded totals.

Further detail is given at the end of this release in the About these statistics section.

A methodological note is also available with additional detail on definitions, methodology and data quality issues.

3. PIP Claim Activity: Registrations, Reviews and Clearances

This section covers the volumes of main activities triggered by key points of the PIP customer journey, typically through:

• an initial registration for a claim
• the clearance of the claim when a decision is made as to whether or not PIP should be awarded
• a planned award review, which is an opportunity to look at entitlement at set intervals to ensure a claimant continues to receive the correct award
• the claimant reporting a change of circumstances around their condition or needs arising. The award is reviewed to ensure that they continue to receive the correct entitlement and this may or may not lead to a change in award

New claims, DLA reassessments, award reviews and changes of circumstance are considered together as volumes across different series are interdependent.

All registrations, clearances and reviews April 2013 to January 2021

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Stat-Xplore and Table 6A

Between April 2013, when PIP began, and January 2021, 5.7 million claims have been registered for PIP, and 5.4 million of the registered claims have been cleared.

Of these:

• 3.7 million registrations (66%) are new claims whilst 1.9 million (34%) are DLA reassessment claims
• 170,000 (3%) were registered under SRTI while the rest (97%) were under normal rules
• 2.9 million clearances (53%) were awarded PIP, 2.4 million (45%) had their claim disallowed and 100,000 (2%) withdrew their claim

1.4 million claims have had a planned award review registered and 370,000 claims have reported a change in circumstances between April 2013 and January 2021.

Note that “Award Reviewed” and “Change of Circumstance Reported” totals include cases where an award was made following an initial disallowance then a change of decision at MR or appeal. These awards are not included in the “Awarded” total.

You can view an interactive dashboard of the latest PIP statistics by region.

Monthly Registrations for initial claims, award reviews and changes of circumstance, all claims to January 2021

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Stat-Xplore, Table 6A

Registration activity fluctuates month on month. Initial new claim and change of circumstance registrations tend to follow a stable pattern of gradual increase over time and seasonal dips each December. Levels of DLA reassessment and award review activity can be adjusted by the Department when this is required to actively manage operational resource and achieve a balance in workflows between the two activities.

From March 2020 onwards, COVID-19 provisions were put in place. There were major changes in DWP policy and customer behaviour, with:

• a reduction in activity initiated by customers (registrations for new claims and reported changes in circumstance)
• a temporary halt to DLA reassessment and award review activity except where a DLA customer reported a change in circumstance.

Planned award reviews restarted during July 2020, and customer-initiated activity has gradually resumed. Some DLA reassessment activity also restarted during July 2020, for cases where a DLA claimant reports a change of circumstances, reaches the age of 16 (18 in Scotland from 1 September 2020) or voluntarily claims PIP, although new invitations to claim PIP for working age DLA claimants are not currently being sent out.

Latest quarterly figures to January 2021 show:

• 140,000 registrations for new claims (5% higher than quarter ending January 2020)
• 22,000 reported changes of circumstance (18% higher than quarter ending January 2020)
• 25,000 registrations for DLA reassessments (4% lower than quarter ending January 2020)
• 110,000 planned award review registrations (14% lower than quarter ending January 2020)

Monthly Clearances for initial claims, award reviews and changes of circumstance, all claims to January 2021

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Stat-Xplore, Table 6B, PIP AR and CoC Registrations and Clearances to October 2018 Table 2A

Clearance activity patterns are driven by patterns in registration activity, lagged by the time it takes to process claims and reviews. However, since processing time is also affected by available capacity there is more variation especially in periods with processing backlogs.

From March 2020 onwards, disruption due to COVID-19 affected volumes of clearances for all activities - Assessment Providers switched from face-to-face to telephone assessments, and in the first few weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic efforts were made to clear residual claims in the system from before COVID-19 measures were put in place, giving rise to an initial spike in clearance volumes. Although the effects of the disruption due to COVID-19 have reduced in many areas, they continue in some parts of the process.

Latest quarterly figures to January 2021 show:

• 110,000 clearances for new claims (28% higher than quarter ending January 2020)
• 13,000 changes of circumstance were cleared (40% higher than quarter ending January 2020)
• 23,000 clearances for DLA reassessment claims, which remains low (only 31% of the number cleared in the quarter to January 2020) despite DLA reassessment activity resuming for some cases from July 2020
• 130,000 planned award reviews were cleared (51% higher than the quarter to January 2020) showing some recovery from the COVID-19 disruption seen through the period April - October 2020

See Stat-Xplore for more information on registrations and clearances.

National Tables 6A – C give information on award reviews and changes of circumstance registrations and clearances (from 26 June 2016 onwards). For clearances during April 2013 to 25 June 2016, see the tables which accompanied the December 2018 release.

4. Clearance outcomes – Awards

A clearance is defined as the resolution of an initial registration, and includes all possible outcomes – awards, disallowances and withdrawals. Where an assessment takes place, a decision is made on whether to award PIP or to disallow the claim, though disallowances and withdrawals can occur prior to assessment. For further detail see the steps of the customer journey outlined in section 2 of this release.

Two different rates can be calculated to show the proportion of cases that result in an award:

• The award rate gives the proportion of claims where PIP is awarded - the number of cases awarded divided by the total number of cases cleared (including or excluding those that are withdrawn)
• The assessment award rate gives the proportion of assessments where a decision is made to award PIP - the number of cases awarded divided by the total number of cases where an assessment has taken place (excluding withdrawn cases and those that are disallowed prior to assessment)

Award rates and Assessment award rates to January 2021

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Table 1

Award rates for all claims (excluding withdrawn cases) between April 2013 and January 2021 show that:

• 42% receive an award for normal rules new claims
• 71% receive an award for normal rules DLA reassessment claims
• 99% of SRTI claimants are awarded PIP

By the end of January 2021:

• 2.6 million (74%) of new claims had an assessment
• 1.7 million (91%) of DLA reassessment claims had an assessment
• all remaining claims were disallowed (either pre-assessment or through failing to attend the assessment), or withdrawn

Assessment award rates for all decisions made between April 2013 and January 2021 (normal rules, excluding cases where an assessment has not been completed) show that:

• 56% of assessments for new claims result in an award
• 78% of assessments result in an award for DLA reassessment claims

From April 2020, COVID-19 impacted award rates and assessment award rates as assessment methods changed from face-to-face to telephone assessments. Trends were distorted during the transitional period to COVID-19 measures. The disruption continues to affect award rates in the quarter ending January 2021 for DLA reassessment claims, though new claims have been similar to the pre-COVID period since October 2020.

Latest figures for normal rules claims show:

• 38% of all new claim clearances (excluding withdrawn) and 47% of those who were assessed received an award in January 2021, compared to 36% and 50% respectively a year previously
• 58% of all DLA reassessment clearances (excluding withdrawn) and 67% of those who were assessed received an award in January 2021, compared to 71% and 76% respectively a year previously

Assessment award rates vary by disabling condition. A PIP claimant’s main disabling condition is recorded during their assessment in over 99% of cases. Customers who are disallowed prior to their assessment, fail to attend their assessment or withdraw their claim will not have a main disabling condition recorded.

Of those claims that have had an assessment under normal rules, 82% of new claims and 88% of DLA reassessment claims are recorded as having one of the five most common disabling conditions:

• psychiatric disorders (which includes mixed anxiety and depressive disorders)
• musculoskeletal disease (general)
• musculoskeletal disease (regional)
• neurological disease
• respiratory disease

Assessment award rates (new claims, normal rules) by main disabling condition to January 2021

PIP New Claim Assessment Award Rates (normal rules)	Percentage
Psychiatric disorders	52%
Musculoskeletal disease (general)	62%
Musculoskeletal disease (regional)	59%
Neurological disease	62%
Respiratory disease	56%
Other	51%

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Stat-Xplore

Assessment award rates (reassessed claims, normal rules) by main disabling condition to January 2021

PIP Reassessed Claim Assessment Award Rates (normal rules)	Percentage
Psychiatric disorders	73%
Musculoskeletal disease (general)	85%
Musculoskeletal disease (regional)	82%
Neurological disease	84%
Respiratory disease	83%
Other	72%

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Stat-Xplore

Those claims shown as “other” in the charts cover a wide variety of conditions with a broad range of assessment award rates.

If a PIP award is made, entitlement to PIP commences from the date of claim, or from the date the three month qualifying period was satisfied (for new claims), or from around 4 weeks after the PIP decision (for DLA reassessment claims). Claimants generally receive payment during the period for which they have entitlement, although there are times when payment may be suspended, for example if they are in hospital.

There were 2.6 million claims with entitlement to PIP (caseload) as at 31 January 2021.

Of these:

• approximately equal numbers of claims are new and DLA reassessed claims (1.3 million respectively)
• 29,000 (1%) were registered under SRTI though the majority (99%) were under normal rules

For normal rules claims:

• one third (33%) have had entitlement for less than 2 years
• just over three in twenty (16%) have had entitlement for between 2 and 3 years
• just over half (52%) have had entitlement for more than 3 years

When PIP is awarded, decisions are made as to the award level – the monetary amount of the award for both Daily Living and Mobility components – depending on the claimant’s individual circumstances. Each component can be awarded at:

• enhanced rate
• standard rate
• nil, where the claimant is not awarded this component

One in three (33%) normal rules claims with entitlement to PIP as at 31 January 2021 receive the highest level of award, with both daily living and mobility components received at the enhanced rate.

For normal rules claims with entitlement in January 2021:

• almost one quarter (24%) received daily living award only, a few (4%) received mobility award only, and nearly three quarters (72%) received both
• one third (33%) received the highest level of awards (‘enhanced/enhanced’ rates) for both mobility and daily living components, and almost a further third (29%) received one component at the enhanced rate

The two most commonly recorded disabling conditions for claims under normal rules are ‘Psychiatric disorder’ (37% of claims), and ‘Musculoskeletal disease (general)’ (a further 20% of claims).

More information on claims with entitlement (caseload), clearances and awards by a range of factors including disability is available from Stat-Xplore.

5. Review outcomes

Awards may be reviewed either when a claimant reports a change of circumstances, or at the end of their review period as set when the original award was made. During a review of an award, the award level is assessed and may be changed (which can happen with or without the case first being referred to an Assessment Provider). The outcome of a review can be shown as:

• Increased – where the award level has increased for one or both components
• Maintained – where the award level remains as it was prior to the review
• Decreased – where the award level has decreased for one or both components
• Disallowed – where the claimant’s entitlement to benefit is ended
• Withdrawn or voluntarily relinquished (for Changes of Circumstances only)

Note that recording procedures were updated on 25th June 2016, and prior to this the reported outcome did not show whether an award review resulted in an increase or decrease in the level of award that the claimant received.

From 25 June 2016 to January 2021:

• 730,000 of the 1.2 million planned award reviews (62%) resulted in an increase or no change to the level of award received by the claimant
• 220,000 of the 300,000 changes of circumstances (73%) resulted in an increase or no change to the level of award received by the claimant

This difference reflects the fact that many PIP claimants report a change of circumstances when their condition or disability deteriorates and their needs increase.

Review outcomes from 25 June 2016 to January 2021

Review Outcome	Planned Award Review	Change of Circumstance
Award Increase	18%	44%
Award Maintained	44%	29%
Award Decreased	14%	7%
Award Disallowed	24%	14%
Withdrawn or voluntarily relinquished	n/a	6%

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Table 6B

The proportion of claimants receiving more (or less) benefit after their planned award review differs across the various main disabling condition groups, where condition is as recorded at the time of award review clearance.

The five most common groups account for 87% of all planned award reviews cleared between June 2016 and January 2021. Among these groups:

• claimants with a respiratory disease were most likely to have their award increased or maintained (71%)
• claimants with psychiatric disorders were most likely to have their award decreased or disallowed (43%)

Planned Award Review outcomes by main disabling condition, from 25 June 2016 to January 2021

Disabling condition	Award Increased	Award Maintained	Award Decreased	Award Disallowed
Psychiatric disorders	17%	40%	13%	30%
Musculoskeletal disease (general)	20%	48%	16%	16%
Musculoskeletal disease (regional)	17%	48%	15%	21%
Neurological disease	19%	49%	13%	18%
Respiratory disease	25%	46%	13%	16%
Other	17%	41%	14%	29%

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Table 6B (vi)

Further information on award review outcomes for all main disabling conditions can be found in National Tables 6B(iv) – (vi) accompanying this release.

6. Clearance outcomes – Award Types and Review Periods (Experimental statistics)

When PIP is awarded, decisions are also made as to the award type and, where appropriate, the review period.

The award type may be:

• a fixed length award with a set period of time before a review of the award takes place (the “review period”)
• an “ongoing award” with no end date, where the intention will be to apply a light-touch review at the 10-year point
• a “short term award without review” which will not be subject to review but will end within a small number of years of award unless a new claim is submitted (mostly awarded under SRTI, with others being awarded to claimants who are expected to see a significant reduction in needs in the short term)

Award types and review periods are set on an individual basis, based on the claimant’s needs and the likelihood of those needs changing. This takes into account such matters as planned treatment/therapy or learning/adapting to manage a condition. For fixed length awards, the review period usually ranges from a minimum of 9 months to a maximum 10 years. Review periods of less than 9 months are set only in exceptional circumstances. An award of 2 years or less is considered short term. From 31 May 2019 a guidance change for claimants whose review would have taken place when they were of State Pension age means that they are now generally awarded ongoing awards.

Percentage of award types to January 2021

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Stat-Xplore

Most new claimants receive an award of 2 years or less. DLA reassessment claimants tend to receive longer awards. Only a very small proportion (less than 2%) of normal rules claimants receive a short term award without review or do not have an award period recorded.

Trends over time have tended to differ between new and reassessed claims. During early periods (pre-July 2013 for new claims and pre-July 2014 for reassessed claims) breakdowns by award type should be treated with caution as proportions were volatile when volumes were low.

For new claims:

• in January 2021, nearly three quarters (77%) of claims awarded were short term (0 to 2 years), less than one in ten (6%) were longer term (over 2 years) and less than one in ten (7%) were ongoing

For DLA reassessment claims:

• in January 2021, short term 0 to 2 year awards were the most common award type (nearly half - 47% - of all claims awarded) followed by longer term claims over 2 years (30%) and ongoing awards (21%)
• patterns in award types are different in recent months due to ongoing COVID-19 disruption, since reassessment activity has not restarted for all types of claim and overall numbers of DLA reassessment clearance are low at this time

Award types by condition to January 2021

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Stat-Xplore

Award types and review periods also differ by main disabling condition.

In particular:

• DLA reassessment claimants are more likely to receive ongoing awards than new claimants across all disabling conditions
• 77% of new claimants with psychiatric disorders receive short term awards with reviews, compared to 33% of DLA reassessed claimants
• most new claimants with a malignant disease claim under SRTI (64%)
• since PIP was introduced, 50% of successful DLA reassessed claimants with neurological diseases received an ongoing award

Further detail on clearances by a range of factors including award type, review period and disability is available from Stat-Xplore.

7. Clearance and Outstanding Times

Clearance times show the time taken for DWP to process and make a decision on a case. The average clearance time is calculated as the median of all individual clearance times.

Clearance times (median weeks) to January 2021

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Table 2A

Clearance times for normal rules new claims:

• are currently (January 2021) 19 weeks “end to end” (from registration to a decision being made) and 15 weeks from the AP referral to the decision
• are similar to levels a year ago (19 weeks and 12 weeks respectively in January 2020), before the pandemic began
• reflected distortions due to COVID-19 measures throughout most of 2020, with an initial drop in April 2020, increases over May-August 2020, and a subsequent drop in September-October 2020

Clearance times for normal rules DLA reassessment claims:

• are currently (January 2021) 21 weeks “end to end” (from registration to a decision being made) and 15 weeks from the AP referral to the decision
• are similar to levels a year ago (23 weeks and 15 weeks respectively in January 2020), before the pandemic began
• reflected distortions due to COVID-19 measures throughout most of 2020, with increases (excepting a dip in May and June 2020) from April 2020 to a peak in October-November 2020

Clearance times for SRTI claims:

• are 4 working days for both new and DLA reassessment claims from registration to decision

Information on clearance times and outstanding times (time already waited for cases where DWP has yet to make a decision), including regional breakdowns, can be found in National Tables 2 - 3 accompanying this release.

8. Mandatory Reconsiderations (MRs)

Claimants who wish to dispute a decision on their PIP claim at any stage can ask DWP to reconsider the decision. This is a mandatory reconsideration (MR) and must be completed before an appeal is made and lodged with HMCTS.

An MR considers the grounds for the dispute and reviews the original decision. An MR may give rise to a change in award, which includes:

• previously disallowed claims that are now awarded
• claims that had previously been awarded but the MR has resulted in a change in the level of the award

MR Registrations and Clearances (normal rules) to January 2021

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Stat-Xplore

By the end of January 2021, 1.8 million MRs had been registered against normal rules claims, and almost all of these had been cleared. Of these:

• 1.1 million (61%) related to new claims
• 700,000 (39%) related to reassessed DLA claims
• 140,000 (8%) were withdrawn or cancelled

The number of MRs registered and cleared within each month fluctuates over time.

• Latest figures for MR registrations (59,000 in the quarter ending January 2021, 75% of the level in the same quarter a year earlier) reflect continuing reduced activity since the COVID-19 pandemic began
• MR clearances over the same period showed low levels in April 2020, rose in June and July 2020 as activity recovered, and then dropped again with 61,000 cleared in the quarter ending January 2021

MR clearance outcomes (excluding withdrawn MRs) to January 2021

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Stat-Xplore

The degree to which MRs lead to changes in award has fluctuated over time. Proportions were volatile during early periods (pre-January 2014) when MR volumes were low.

• From May 2020 onwards the trends in proportion of MR decisions (excluding withdrawn MRs) leading to a change in award resumed the patterns pre-COVID – a gradual increase reaching 52% in January 2021
• A new operational approach was introduced in 2019 when the Department began proactively contacting claimants, as appropriate, to collect further oral or written evidence at the MR stage. This saw a gradual increase in the proportion of awards changed since January 2019 (23%) to 40% in December 2019
• COVID-19 also had an impact on the proportion of awards changed with a sharp increase between 44% in March 2020 and 57% in April 2020

MR clearance times refer to the median time taken to process an MR from the time it is registered by the claimant to a decision being made.

MR clearance times (median calendar days) to January 2021

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Table 4A

In January 2021, the median MR clearance time was 39 calendar days (7 days shorter than the same point in the previous year), having fallen from a peak of 74 calendar days in June 2020.

Note: information on MR clearance times can be found in found in National Tables 4A – B accompanying this release. Further breakdowns of MR registration and clearance volumes are available from Stat-Xplore.

9. Customer Journey (Experimental) Statistics

This section includes experimental statistics based on a dataset that tracks initial decisions following a PIP assessment, through to MR and appeal. These statistics:

• help us understand the claimant’s end-to-end journey from claiming PIP, through to MR and appeal
• are particularly useful to understand the volumes and proportions flowing through each stage of the process and whether there are differences for particular groups of claimants
• cover initial decisions following a PIP assessment since PIP was introduced up to September 2020, and for MRs and appeals to December 2020 - note that more MRs and appeals could be made and completed after December 2020, so numbers could go up as it can take some time for an appeal to be lodged and then cleared after the initial decision
• include the period affected by COVID-19 from March 2020 onwards (latest 3 quarters)
• cover new claims and DLA reassessment claims and both normal rules and special rules for terminally ill people (SRTI)

These statistics do not include:

• decisions made prior to an assessment being completed
• decisions made at an Award Review or Change of Circumstance

This means that the MR volumes are on a different basis to the other statistics on MRs contained within this release. Appeal volumes are also on a different basis to the statistics published by the Ministry of Justice on tribunal appeals.

For robust figures on individual stages, please use:

• for MR registration and clearance volumes, the figures from Stat-Xplore
• for appeals, the quarterly Ministry of Justice Tribunals statistics

Note that within the customer journey statistics, totals may not sum due to rounding, and because MRs and appeals which are still in progress are not shown.

Initial Decisions through to MR and Appeal, April 2013 to September 2020 (Experimental statistics)

Source: PIP Statistics to January 2021, Table 5A

For initial PIP decisions following an assessment during the period April 2013 to September 2020:

• nearly one in five (19%) of completed MRs resulted in a change to the award (excluding withdrawn)
• two in five (40%) of completed MRs then lodged an appeal
• just over one in ten (13%) of appeals lodged were “lapsed” (which is where DWP changed the decision in the customer’s favour after an appeal was lodged but before it was heard at tribunal)
• two thirds (67%) of the DWP decisions cleared at a tribunal hearing were “overturned” (which is where the decision is revised in favour of the customer)
• just under one in ten (9%) of initial decisions following a PIP assessment have been appealed and around one in twenty (5%) have been overturned at a tribunal hearing

An MR may arise when a claimant is disallowed PIP at initial decision. Alternatively, when PIP is awarded, decisions are made as to the award levels and a claimant may raise an MR because they disagree that the levels reflect their circumstances. These two distinct groups of claimants show different results throughout their customer journey:

• claimants who were disallowed at initial decision were more likely to go on to register an MR (48% of decisions to disallow) or lodge an appeal (42% of MRs completed) than those who were awarded PIP (11% of decisions to award PIP and 34% of MRs completed)
• claimants who were disallowed at initial decision were less likely to have an award changed at MR (15%) or appeal (65% overturned) than those who were awarded PIP (27% of awards changed at MR and 74% of appeals overturned)

Considering trends over time, the proportion of:

• MRs resulting in a change to the award has remained at a similar level (33%) in the most recent quarter of initial decision (July to September 2020) to the previous quarter, and is 7 percentage points higher than the same quarter the previous year, reflecting a levelling off of the increase since 2017 to 2018
• appeals lodged which were lapsed gradually increased from 2015 to 2016 to reach 29% in the 2019 to 2020 financial year
• initial decisions following an assessment which have been appealed has gradually increased over time – from around 6% over the first couple of years when PIP was introduced, to 10% in 2018 to 2019
• initial decisions following an assessment overturned at a tribunal hearing gradually increased and was 6% in 2018 to 2019 – though as these statistics are grouped by initial decision date, numbers could increase for later periods as more appeals are completed

National Tables 5A – F accompanying this release give information by date of initial decision (quarter and financial year) and other factors including geography.

10. About these statistics

Data quality statement

The following PIP statistics are Official Statistics:

• registrations
• clearances & awards
• clearance & outstanding times
• mandatory reconsideration registrations & clearances
• mandatory reconsideration clearance times
• claimants entitled to PIP
• annual statistics comparing outcomes for DLA reassessments (working age and child DLA claimants)

Official Statistics are produced in accordance with Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and the Code of Practice for Statistics and meet high standards of trustworthiness, quality and public value.

The following PIP statistics are Experimental Statistics:

• award types & review periods
• award review and change of circumstance registrations and clearances
• customer journey statistics (tracking of initial decisions following a PIP assessment through to MR and appeal)

These statistics are badged as experimental to reflect the fact that the series are new and methodologies and definitions for the statistics may develop over time.

Breakdowns available

Statistics available on Stat-Xplore and in accompanying tables are further broken down by:

• geography (region, local authority and parliamentary constituency and for Stat-Xplore, Middle & Lower layer Super Output Area and Census Output Area)
• assessment status (SRTI, DLA reassessment indicator and for all post-assessment measures, mobility component award level, daily living component award level)
• claimant characteristics (age, gender, State Pension Age)
• primary disability category/sub-category/low level disability category (for all post-assessment measures)
• duration of current claim (for caseload)
• outcomes and review periods (for clearances)
• mean financial award amounts (for all awards in clearance and caseload series)

Rounding policy

Data in the release has been rounded as per the table below, with the exception of average clearance times which are shown as whole numbers of days or weeks.

From	To	Round to nearest
0	1,000	10
1,001	10,000	100
10,001	100,000	1,000
100,001	1,000,000	10,000
1,000,001	10,000,000	100,000
10,000,001	100,000,000	1,000,000

All changes and totals are calculated prior to rounding. Percentage changes are calculated prior to rounding and then are rounded to the nearest whole number. As all figures within this statistical summary have been rounded, they may not add up.

Retrospection

The data is subject to some minor retrospection. When a claim is first registered, it is assumed to be a new claim unless there is evidence to suggest that it is a DLA reassessment. If evidence is presented between registration and clearance, the claim will then show as a DLA reassessment clearance and will move from being a new claim registration to being a DLA reassessment registration.

Some claims may not be marked as claims under SRTI at the point of registration but become an SRTI claim prior to the point of clearance, and vice versa. This may lead to the figures showing fewer SRTI registrations than clearances.

PIP operational roll out

On 8 April 2013, PIP was introduced as a controlled start, for new claims from people living in a limited area in the North West and part of the North East of England.

On 10 June 2013, PIP was introduced for new claims for the remaining parts of Great Britain.

From 28 October 2013, using a structured roll out to postcode areas, DWP invited DLA working age recipients to claim PIP if:

• DWP received information about a change in care or mobility needs which meant their claim had to be renewed
• the claimant’s fixed term award was due to expire
• children turned 16 years old (unless they have been awarded DLA under the special rules for terminally ill people)
• the claimant chose to claim PIP instead of DLA

Since July 2015, the remaining DLA working age recipients have been gradually invited to claim PIP.

Personal Independence Payment in Scotland

The Scotland Act 2016 gives Scottish Parliament powers over a number of social security benefits which had been administered to Scottish clients by the Department for Work and Pensions. From 1 April 2020, Personal Independence Payment became one of the benefits to have executive competency transferred from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland, the executive agency of Scottish Government which is responsible for delivering the social security benefits for Scotland. From 1 September 2020, young people in Scotland can choose to remain on child DLA until the age of 18. See the Scottish Government website for more details.

There is a transitional period to allow administration of this benefit to be transferred to Scotland, during which time the Department for Work and Pensions will continue to administer Personal Independence Payment on Social Security Scotland’s behalf. Statistics in this release therefore include Scottish PIP claims alongside the rest of Great Britain.

In the future, Scottish Government plans to replace Personal Independence Payment with Adult Disability Payment.

Where to find out more:

The Personal Independence Payment statistics collection has links to this release and other releases of PIP statistics.

Read a detailed PIP statistics background and methodology document. This gives information about production of the PIP statistical release including:

• data sources
• methods
• definitions
• quality assurance steps

Build your own data tables using Stat-Xplore

View an interactive dashboard of the latest PIP statistics by region.

Read an overview of PIP.

Read the release strategy for the PIP statistics.

Related statistics:

The Scottish Government have produced their own publication for PIP in Scotland

Ministry of Justice tribunals statistics.

Statistics for Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessment Outcomes.

Work and Pensions Select Committee PIP and ESA assessments inquiry: supporting statistics. This ad hoc publication gives statistics about the assessment process from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and the 3 assessment providers:

• Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA)
• Capita
• Independent Assessment Services (IAS)

The release also includes statistics about the outcomes of MRs and tribunals.

ISBN: 978-1-78659-242-2