PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Personal Independence Payment (11 June 2015)

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the implications for his Department's policies are of the ruling in the case of Ms C and Mr W v. Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and others of 8 June 2015.

Asked by:
Debbie Abrahams (Labour)

The Court rejected two of the three legal grounds brought by the claimants, finding that their human rights had not been breached and not awarding damages.

Where the Court found that the historic delay for the two claimants was unlawful, they also ruled that they are not “test cases” and it would be inappropriate to make wider findings.

The Court accepted that the Government had made significant improvements to the Personal Independence Payment process and there are now no inherent failings in the system.

As a result of these improvements, the average time taken for a claimant to be assessed by an assessment provider has more than halved since June 2014. In March 2015, the average claimant wait was 7 weeks for their PIP assessment - well within the 16 week target set by the Secretary of State.

Answered by:
Justin Tomlinson (Conservative)
16 June 2015