The DWP is enacting legislation to allow it to extend the personal independence payment (PIP) awards of existing claimants, in order to cope with the growing backlog of planned award reviews.
The Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Jobseeker’s Allowance and Employment and Support Allowance (Decisions and Appeals) (Amendment) Regulations 2026 will come into force on 2 June 2026.
As they are secondary legislation, they do not have to be voted on and the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) has agreed that they do not have to be referred to it.
The regulations simply say: “The Secretary of State may extend the length of a fixed term award of personal independence payment, where the Secretary of State considers it necessary to do so to safeguard the efficient administration of personal independence payment.”
Back in December, we revealed that the time between PIP reviews was to be extended for the majority of PIP claimants aged 25 and over, to a minimum of three years for a new claim, rising to 5 years at their next review if they remain entitled.
But the DWP have now revealed in a meeting with SSAC, the minutes of which were published this week, that the actual award lengths will be four years and six years, with reviews generally being begun a year before the award ends.
The new regulations allow the DWP to legally extend awards for existing claimants. They say that if they do not do so, the assessment system will “fall over” because of growing demand. They also revealed that the current system of extending some PIP awards by short periods was being done “without clear statutory cover”. In other words, extending awards ad hoc for a year at a time as the DWP has been doing is probably unlawful.
The new regulations mean that where a current claimant has a fixed term award that is due for review, the decision maker can choose to simply lengthen the award, where “it is necessary to do so to safeguard the efficient administration of personal independence payment.”
The regulations do not give the DWP the power to shorten existing fixed-term award or to change the rates being paid, only to extend the length of the award.
According to the SSAC minutes: “The Department confirmed that the extension decisions will carry appeal rights.”
Decision makers will still have the discretion to make shorter or longer awards where they consider it justified, including ten year light-touch awards.
It is intended that the changes will not be applied to claimants aged under 25, because the DWP argues that younger people have a “greater likelihood of improvement in health and functional ability over time.” In addition, they argue that “more frequent engagement with 16–24year-olds provides opportunities to identify and offer appropriate employment support at an earlier stage.”
Concerningly, the department goes on to say that “The Timms Review, a full review of PIP, is examining PIP assessments and the implications for wider support. Any future move towards attaching conditionality to PIP would fall within that broader reform work.”
SSAC expressed concerns about claimants who do not ask for a reassessment when their condition deteriorates and who “may be some of the most vulnerable”. Under the new system they may miss out on an increased award for even longer. The DWP’s response was that they would “strengthen communications”.
However, they also admitted that “some savings will arise from cases where claimants with worsening conditions do not receive an earlier tailored assessment” but argued that “generating such savings was not a driver of the policy.”
We’ll keep readers informed about how the roll-out of extending existing awards works out in practice after it begins in June.
