THE delays facing some claimants of a flagship government welfare scheme are "unacceptable", a minister admitted as the latest update was published.
Data released by the Department for Work and Pensions showed that of the 529,400 cases registered for the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) between April 2013 and the end of July this year, just over 206,000 had been cleared - either awarded, declined or withdrawn.
Mark Harper, minister for disabled people, said: "Unlike the old system, PIP includes a face-to-face assessment and regular reviews to ensure support goes to those who need it most.
"Today's figures show just that, with nearly 23 per cent of people getting the highest level of support, compared to 16% under Disability Living Allowance (DLA).
"We accept that the delays faced by some people are unacceptable, and we are committed to putting that right. Between May and July we have doubled the number of claims processed and we are working hard to continue to make further improvements.
"By the end of the year we expect that no-one will be waiting for an assessment for longer than 16 weeks."
According to the statistics, PIP has been awarded to 51 per cent of new claimants since April 2013. Since October 2013, it has been granted in 72 per cent of reassessment cases, namely people previously on DLA.
Reacting to the figures, chief executive of disability charity Scope Richard Hawkes called on the Government to do "everything in its power" to address the delays, which he said were causing financial uncertainty, distress and anxiety.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article