Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee

60th Report - DWP follow-up: Autumn 2025

Public Accounts Committee HC 1447 Published 9 January 2026

Report Status

Government responded

Conclusions & Recommendations

27 items (8 recs)

Source

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Government Response

AI assessment · 26 of 27 classified

Accepted 4

Accepted in Part 2

Acknowledged 14

Deferred 1

Not Addressed 1

Rejected 4

Recommendations

3 results

2 Accepted

Monitor the impact of shortening Universal Credit first work coach meetings, including claimant feedback.

Recommendation

The Department does not have assurance that shortening the first meeting a Universal Credit claimant has with a work coach to 30 minutes will not adversely affect the support it provides. We reported previously that 57% of jobcentres had used … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees with the recommendation and will undertake a qualitative research project to gather claimant insights on their experiences at the initial claimant commitment meeting, including feedback on its length and content.

HM Treasury

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4 Accepted

Provide detailed data on PIP claim processing times, including breakdown by specific duration categories.

Recommendation

It is unacceptable how long some PIP claimants are having to wait for their claims to be processed, which can cause them to get into debt and push them into poverty. The Department does not have an adequate plan to … Read more It is unacceptable how long some PIP claimants are having to wait for their claims to be processed, which can cause them to get into debt and push them into poverty. The Department does not have an adequate plan to improve this in the short term. The Department aims to process 75% of new PIP claims within 75 working days but, in 2024–25, only 51% of claims were processed within this timeframe. We have constituents who have waited a long time for their claims to be processed, in some cases over a year. As it has done previously, the Department pointed to its Health Transformation Programme as the long-term solution to improving the service it provides to PIP claimants. As part of this, the Department is testing in a few postcodes an online application process, which it says has typically reduced the time taken to process claims by 20 days and enabled it to achieve its target. In 2023, the Department told the previous Committee that it intended to process up to 20% of PIP claims using the new online service by 2026. We are concerned, however, that this timetable may not be achieved as the Department now says only that it believes it can reach the 20% target by 2029 when the programme is due to be completed. This is far too long for claimants to have to wait to get a better service. We note that the programme is likely to be used to apply a test and learn approach to the recommendations that come out of the Timms review of PIP, however, the Department should not allow this to result in further delays to improvements. recommendation Alongside its Treasury Minute response, the Department should write to the Committee to provide: • for 2024–25, more detailed data on the time taken to process new PIP claims, specifically a breakdown of the number and proportion of claims processed as follows: ○ within the target of 75 working days; ○ after the 75-day target but within six months; ○ after six months but within 12 months; and ○ after 12 months. The Department should also pro Show less

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and will write to the Committee by the end of March 2026 to provide the requested detailed data breakdown on PIP claims processing times for 2024-25. It also notes current average processing times are 16 weeks and outlines other service improvements and increased staffing.

HM Treasury

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5 Accepted

Provide information on legacy IT risk reduction plans and multi-benefit pilot rollout timetable.

Recommendation

While we are encouraged that the Department has ambitious plans to address the risks associated with its legacy IT systems, implementing these plans over the next three years will be highly challenging. Reducing reliance on legacy IT systems is a … Read more

Government Response Summary

The government agrees and details its accelerated three-year plan to address 36 critical legacy IT systems, including full transformation, refactoring, and code fixes, aiming for improved customer service. It is developing the first iteration of a multi-benefit customer account, will launch a message centre MVP this Summer with six-monthly releases, and enable digital evidence uploads, with all new capabilities to be rigorously evaluated.

HM Treasury

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Conclusions (1)

Observations and findings

26 Conclusion Accepted

We asked the Department if it had been given extra resources to deal with some of its legacy IT and what its plans were. The Department confirmed it did get specific funding in the Spending Review for both its increase in cyber security and its ‘legacy tech debt’ programme. It …

Government Response Summary

The government is already upgrading its high-risk legacy systems, aiming to reduce overall risk by 58% over the next three years and plans to tackle the largest systems first.

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