Written statement on Personal Independence Payments

Sarah Newton (Department for Work and Pensions):Later today, I will publish Command Paper 9540 “Government’s response to the Second Independent Review of the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment”. The review was carried out by Paul Gray and published on 30 March 2017.

Alongside this, the Department is publishing interim findings from Wave 2 of the PIP claimant survey which focuses on the assessment and decision stages of the PIP claim, and seeks claimants’ feedback and experiences of these.

The response outlines my Department’s intentions in relation to the recommendations suggested by Paul Gray in his second independent review. It also provides an update of the actions my Department has taken against the recommendations identified in the first independent review.

My Department has accepted or partially accepted all of the recommendations in the latest review.

PIP is a modern benefit, which can be flexible and responsive to change, where we identify improvements to be made. Whilst this completes the legal obligation to review the implementation of PIP, we remain committed to understanding how the benefit is working and to continuous improvement in this space. Furthermore we remain committed to working closely with claimants and the organisations who represent them, and will continue to do so.