AQW 49311/22-27

Ms Sian Mulholland
Alliance Party
North Antrim

Tabled Date: 22/06/2026
Answered On Date: 29/06/2026
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Communities whether his Department applies the same Personal Independence Payment processing standards or expectations as the Department for Work and Pensions, including any benchmark that 75 per cent of new claims should be processed within 75 working days.

Answer:

While my Department aligns broadly with the Department for Work and Pensions in its approach to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) service delivery, it does not apply a specific benchmark requiring 75 per cent of new claims to be processed within 75 working days.

Instead, the Department uses an Actual Average Clearance Time (AACT) to measure PIP New Claim clearance times. The target AACT is 13 weeks for new claim processing. The Department closely monitors PIP delivery performance and remains committed to improving processing times, while ensuring accurate decisions for customers.