The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is expanding its pilot scheme for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments this autumn, a change that will affect around 150,000 people, or approximately four per cent of all claimants. The pilot, which began in March 2026, shifts the responsibility for allocating points from healthcare professionals to DWP case managers.
How the PIP assessment pilot works
Currently, healthcare professionals such as nurses, paramedics and physiotherapists carry out PIP assessments before recommending points scores. Under the pilot, DWP case managers take over the responsibility for allocating points, a move that aims to transform the decision-making process within the DWP's Health Transformation Programme's new Health Assessment Service.
The initial phase of testing involved around 1% of PIP assessments from 16 March 2026. From 1 June 2026, the DWP began a second phase with around 4% of PIP assessments nationally. The expansion this autumn will extend the pilot further, according to Cambridge News.
Official statements on the pilot
Baroness Sherlock, a Labour Party peer, said: "DWP is running a small-scale trial of a transformed decision making approach within the Health Transformation Programme's new Health Assessment Service, and we will evaluate the impacts." She added: "The initial phase of testing involved around 1% of PIP assessments from 16 March 2026. From 1 June 2026, we began a second phase of testing with around 4% of PIP assessments nationally."
Sir Stephen Timms, responding in June, said: "We expect the second phase of the test to involve approximately 2,800 to 3,300 PIP customers per month."
Concerns over learning disability claimants
The update came after Liberal Democrat Lord Scriven asked what proportion of PIP claims in the pilot involve claimants with a learning disability, and how their award rates, levels, and mandatory reconsideration rates compare to non-learning disabled claimants. Baroness Sherlock acknowledged: "We cannot predict the mix of claimants by condition at this small scale but, over the year to April 2026, fewer than one per cent of all PIP clearances were for claimants with a learning disability as their primary disabling condition." She added: "While the trial will provide information on award rates, levels and mandatory reconsiderations, given the likely small number of claimants with a learning disability that would go through the trial, comparisons with those going through the standard assessment route are unlikely to be meaningful."
In a written parliamentary answer, Baroness Smith said: "Through our impact evaluation of the pilot, we will be exploring, where possible, whether there are differential outcomes by primary disabling condition. In addition to the impact evaluation, we are undertaking research with provider and DWP staff. This is to understand their experiences of undertaking assessments and making decisions under the changed approach. Our qualitative evaluation methods will include observations and interviews. We will continue to monitor decision making quality throughout the trial through established quality assurance processes."
The pilot's expansion this autumn is set to affect a significant number of claimants, and the DWP will continue to evaluate its impact, particularly on award rates and decision-making quality.
