Overview
- The Department for Work and Pensions figures, published on Tuesday, show about 4.09–4.10 million people in England and Wales were entitled to Personal Independence Payment as of July 31, 2026.
- Mental-health conditions are the single largest category with roughly 1.60 million claimants, including big increases in autism, mixed anxiety and depression, and ADHD.
- The approval rate for new PIP applications has fallen to about 35.8% in July 2026 while 61.4% were disallowed, and median processing times have lengthened.
- Spending has climbed sharply from around £16.3 billion in 2019–20 to £27.3 billion in 2024–25 and is forecast to keep rising, prompting independent modelling that proposes options such as means-testing and changes to award design.
- Sir Stephen Timms’s final review is due this autumn and will inform policy choices as parties debate rapid reassessments and targeted cuts, with wide local variation in claimant rates raising distributional and practical implementation concerns.