It comes as the Government presses ahead with disability benefit and welfare reform
The DWP has issued an update on popular benefit PIP. The number of claimants in England and Wales receiving the primary disability benefit has exceeded four million for the first time, new figures indicate.
The Government stated it is working to overhaul a welfare system which “has trapped people in poverty and kept them out of work for too long”. Personal independence payment (Pip) is designed to assist with daily tasks and additional living expenses if someone has a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability.
There were 4.01 million Pip claimants in April 2026, according to data released on Tuesday by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). This represents an increase from 3.74 million a year earlier – a rise of 266,175, or 7%.
The number of claimants has approximately doubled since comparable records commenced seven years ago in January 2019, when the total was 2.05 million. Last year, ministers were compelled to abandon proposals to reform disability benefits, including for those with mental health conditions, following backbench Labour opposition.
Rather than immediate reform, the Timms Review was established to gather perspectives on Pip and its operation. Ministers have pledged any modifications to the benefit have been delayed until after that process concludes. DWP stated the review will ensure Pip is “fit and fair for the future”.
An interim update from the review is anticipated “in the coming months”. While more than half of PIP claimants are aged 50 and over, this proportion has been declining steadily, dropping from 56.4% in January 2019 to 52.2% in April this year. Teenagers and young adults continue to represent an ever-increasing share of those receiving PIP.
Some 16.6% of claimants in April this year were aged 16-29, up from 14.5% in January 2019. A similar increase has been recorded for the 30-44 age group, which accounted for 20.9% in April, rising from 18.9% in 2019.
In contrast, those aged 45 to 59 made up 28.9% of claimants in April, a notable fall from 37.3% in 2019. The figure for those aged 60 to 74 has grown over the same period, climbing from 29.2% to 31.1%.
The DWP stated it was fulfilling a pledge to increase face-to-face assessments and also highlighted a slowdown in the growth of the PIP caseload under the current government. The latest data revealed that just over a third (36.6%) of new PIP claims in April were approved, while 61.4% were rejected and 2.1% were withdrawn. The approval rate for new claims has been broadly declining over the past two years, having stood at 40.0% in April 2025 and 46.2% in April 2024.
In April this year – as part of its welfare reform agenda – the Government introduced new legislation enabling disabled claimants to take up work without the risk of losing their benefits under the so-called Right to Try scheme. The change means that finding employment will no longer automatically prompt a benefits reassessment for those receiving Pip, employment and support allowance (ESA) and the health element of universal credit (UC) across England, Wales and Scotland.
Downing Street statement on PIP
Downing Street stated the welfare system “has trapped people in poverty and kept them out of work for too long”. A No 10 spokeswoman said: “The broken system we inherited wrote nearly three million people off as too sick to work, left them off benefits, and saw the welfare bill rise by £88 billion over the last parliament and that’s why we are reforming the system.
“Those reforms are already under way, and we will go even further, which also includes increasing face-to-face Pip assessments and tackling backlogs in work capability assessments, which has contributed to £1.9 billion pounds in savings by 2030.”
A spokesperson for the DWP said: “We’re fixing the broken system we inherited by creating a welfare state that works for disabled people and taxpayers and have launched the Timms Review – co-produced with disabled people and their representative organisations – to make sure Pip is fit and fair for the future.”
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately stated the Conservatives would “review the entire Pip system, remove eligibility for low-level mental health Pip claims, rapidly assess hundreds of thousands of additional claims, and get Britain working again”.
