New figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that the success rate for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) has fallen. This is despite the number of reviews carried out almost doubling from this time last year.
DWP scrambling to clear PIP backlog, but new claims suffer
The DWP snuck the latest data out just before Christmas, probably in the hope it would be missed. They show that in the last quarter up til October 2025, there were:
- 210,000 registrations and 170,000 clearances for new claims.
- 34,000 changes of circumstance reported and 30,000 cleared.
- 25,000 registrations and 20,000 clearances for DLA reassessments.
- 140,000 planned award reviews registered and 220,000 cleared.
- 65,000 mandatory reconsiderations (MRs) registered and 67,000 cleared.
These numbers might look a bit all over the shop. This is because the department has diverted staff from dealing with new claims to tackle the backlog of reviews. This meant the DWP got to brag that they processed the highest number of reviews since the benefit began. 96% more reviews were carried out than in Q3 in 2024. But it was only because they had so many left over to clear.
This has, of course, meant that new claimants suffered, as clearance for new claims fell by 25%. This meant that 40,000 new claimants were left waiting. This is despite the fact that the number of new claims is down by 6% from the same period in 2024. This also means the decision time has risen, from 14 weeks in October 2024 to 16 weeks in October 2025.
Well, at least it fits in with the DWP’s plans to target new claimants in the hope current ones won’t kick up a fuss. However, it also impacted some current claimants, too. Clearance of change of circumstance claims fell by 20%, and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) reassessments fell by 10%.
PIP success rates falling
To be clear, “clearance” doesn’t mean these claimants were awarded the benefit. It just means the DWP actually did its job and processed the claims. Unsurprisingly, with the current climate, success rates have dropped.
Just 38% of claimants got PIP, compared with 44% in Q3 2024. When adjusted to take out those who were disqualified or withdrew their claim, this rises slightly to 47%. But that’s still down from 52% the year before.
Despite the government and media acting like there’s a tidal wave of new benefit claimants, the number of recipients only rose by 1% from July 2025 to October 2025.
Whilst the DWP report did not include statistics for current award reassessments, Benefits and Work used the StatXplore tool to generate them.
Their figures show that the number of claimants losing their award rose very slightly, from 5.88% in October to 6.62% in October 2025. Claimants having their benefits increased, however, dropped dramatically. From 24.24% in October 2024 to 14.45% in October 2025.
DWP is an absolute shambles of an organisation
It’s becoming increasingly clear that the main reason the government is pushing ahead with PIP reform is that they don’t have the staff to process the claims they already have. As a recent report found, delays to PIP are endangering people’s lives. The same report revealed that the DWP planned to make the application process more online-focused and to give every claimant a case worker. But this only works if the DWP can actually find the staff.
With the DWP struggling to do the job it’s already supposed to do, it’s difficult to see how it could possibly manage reforms. But they’ll almost certainly find a way to blame that on disabled people, too.
Featured image via the Canary
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