The DWP and the Timms Review committee have failed to get their story straight on how many responses were received to the reviews Call for Evidence on PIP, with the DWP claiming over 250% more replies were received than Timms says was the case.
The Timms review launched a Call for Evidence which ran from 19 March to 28 May.
It asked four questions:
1. How effectively is PIP delivering on its intended role and purpose?
2 Does the PIP assessment, including the assessment criteria, effectively capture the impact of long-term health conditions and disability in the modern world, and provide fair access to the right support at the right level across the benefits system?
3 What is the experience of people claiming PIP and does this vary for different groups of people?
4. What has changed in wider society and the workplace since 2013 (and might be expected to change in the future) and how has this impacted PIP and does PIP need to change accordingly?
Disabled claimants, members of the public, organisations and experts were all invited to take part.
In the June 2026 Timms Review co-chair update published on 8 June the DWP say “In the 10 weeks during which the Call for Evidence was open, we received over 15,000 responses.”
But in a tweet on X on 4 June, the DWP claimed “The Timms review call for evidence. Over 38,000 responses. Thank you for taking part”
For comparison, the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, which included plans for the PIP 4-point system later defeated by backbenchers, received 47,983 responses.
The update says that the committee will include a summary of findings from the Call for Evidence in their upcoming interim report.
Perhaps it will also include an accurate count of how many people took part.
UPDATE
The June 2026 Timms Review co-chair update has now been altered to show the figure of 38,000 for the number of responses. There is no admission that the figure has been amended.
