- Fifteen workshops being held online and in person will help
shape the recommendations of the Timms Review into Personal
Independence Payment.
- Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions
invited to apply for workshops, with registration open from
Wednesday 12 August 2026.
- Comes following the Review's Interim Report which
found PIP to be no longer
fit for purpose.
Disabled people and people with long-term health conditions are
being invited to take part in a series of workshops that will
help shape recommendations for the future of Personal
Independence Payment (PIP).
Many people described assessment and decision-making processes as
stressful and dehumanising and reported that PIP, while widely valued
as a benefit, can itself create additional barriers to
participation and independence.
Ahead of its final Report, due in Autumn 2026, the Review's
steering group is now developing emerging recommendations and
will be seeking views on them from people across the UK.
The 15 workshops will be held online and in person across the UK
during September and October 2026, ensuring people from all parts
of the country can take part in discussing, testing and refining
the recommendations.
The workshops are aimed primarily at disabled people and people
with long-term health conditions and no previous experience of
engaging with government reviews is required.
Alongside these workshops, the Review will also be contacting
stakeholders including Disabled People's Organisations, charities
and MPs to test and refine its emerging recommendations over the
same period.
Co-Chair of the Review and member of the shaping
recommendations workshops working group Dr Clenton Farquharson
CBE said:
Disabled people and people with long term health conditions know
better than anyone how PIP works in real
life where it helps, where it creates barriers, and where it
needs to change. That experience has to be part of shaping what
comes next.
I would encourage anyone with experience of applying for or
receiving PIP to register their
interest in taking part. The purpose of these workshops is not
simply to hear people's experiences, but to test the Review's
emerging recommendations against real lives and understand what
could make them fairer, clearer and work better in practice.
Most importantly, I am committed to showing how what people tell
us influences the recommendations we ultimately make.
Feedback from participants in these workshops will be considered
by the Review as it finalises it recommendations. These
workshops, alongside intensive engagement throughout the process,
will ensure the Review is grounded in the experiences of disabled
people and people with long-term health conditions before the
report is submitted to the government.
Prior to this, more than 38,000 responses to the Review's Call
for Evidence were received, alongside workshops and engagement
with disabled people, their organisations and experts, to feed
into the Review.
Registration for the workshops opens on Wednesday 12 August 2026
at 10am and closes on Friday 21 August 2026 at 5pm. Selected
participants will be informed by 4 September 2026.
Selection will be done randomly but the steering group will
review and ensure the people chosen represent a balanced range of
characteristics. Where a particular characteristic is
under-represented, applicants with that characteristic will be
identified from the wider applicant pool and selected at random
to fill any gaps.
Additional Information:
