The DWP claim that the crisis over personal independence payment (PIP) assessment delays is now over, with average wait times down to just 15 weeks from a high of over 40 weeks.{jcomments on}
The DWP have released PIP clearance time statistics ahead of a court case taking place later this week.
The statistics allegedly show that the average clearance time for PIP claims is now:
15 weeks from the point of registration for new claims, and
11 weeks from the point of registration for DLA to PIP transfers.
According to the statistics, waiting times reached a peak of over 40 weeks in July 2014 and have been falling ever since.
However, the figures also show that 29% of claimants had been waiting over 20 weeks for a PIP medical assessment in March of this year, down from 37% in January.
16% had been waiting over 30 weeks, 9% over 40 weeks and 4% – over 3,000 people - had been waiting over a year for a PIP assessment.