Research and analysis

Health Transformation Programme management information, January to October 2023

Published 19 December 2023

1. Main stories

The main stories are:

• the total number of referrals for a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment was 4,185 in the London and Birmingham Health Transformation Area (HTA) sites from January to October 2023

• the total number of referrals for a Universal Credit (UC) Work Capability Assessments (WCA) was 3,020 in the London and Birmingham HTA sites from January to September 2023

• the total number of referrals for an Employment Support Allowance (ESA) WCA was 86 in the London and Birmingham HTA sites from January to March 2023

• the number of claimants registering a PIP claim via the new digital GOV.UK channel was 7,533, with 5,899 subsequent PIP2 submissions, from July to October 2023

2. Background

The Health Transformation Programme (HTP) is modernising Health and Disability benefits over the longer-term. It is transforming the entire PIP service, aiming to introduce a simpler application process, including an option to apply online, improved evidence gather and a more tailored journey for customers. An online claim option for PIP, known as ‘Apply for PIP’, available directly via GOV.UK, was launched on 27 July 2023, initially for a limited number of claimants in certain user groups and selected postcode districts in England.

The HTP is also developing a new single Health Assessment Service (HAS) for all benefits that require a functional health assessment. This will include new IT and processes.

The HTP have been developing the new HAS at a small scale initially in the Health Transformation Area (HTA). There are currently two HTA sites located in London and Birmingham. Within these sites, new benefit claims as well as reassessments and award reviews, including PIP assessments, UC WCA and ESA WCA, are processed in-house for a select number of London and Birmingham postcodes.

This release has been published following the commitment made within the Health Transformation Programme evaluation strategy, published 25 May 2023, to begin publishing management information (MI) in Autumn 2023.

3. Statement of application of the Code of Practice for Statistics

The Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code) is built around 3 main concepts, or pillars:

• trustworthiness – is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics
• quality – is about using data and methods that produce statistics
• value – is about publishing statistics that support society’s needs

The following explains how we have applied the pillars of the Code in a proportionate way.

Trustworthiness

This management information was created following a commitment in the Health Transformation Programme evaluation strategy, published 25 May 2023. This is being published now to give equal access to all those with an interest in them.

Quality

This publication uses internal management information used directly within the Health Transformation Programme and has not been quality assured to Official Statistics publication standard. However, engagement has taken place with data owners to ensure this operational data is fit-for-purpose and of sufficient quality for publication. Multiple rounds of quality assurance are applied to ensure the data is as accurate and reliable as possible.

Value

Releasing this information serves the public interest by providing granularity of both the number of claimants being referred for a PIP assessment, UC WCA or ESA WCA in an in-house HTA, by benefit type and HTA site and the number of claimants applying for PIP via the new digital GOV.UK channel. Making this information accessible can reduce the administrative burden of answering Parliamentary Questions (PQs), Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and ad hoc queries about the Health Transformation Programme.

4. Health Transformation Area management information

Table 1 shows the number of referrals for PIP assessments, UC WCAs or ESA WCAs in the London and Birmingham HTAs.

Table 1: Number of referrals for an assessment in the Health Transformation Area (HTA), by benefit type and HTA site

Date	All sites	PIP Birmingham	PIP London	UC Birmingham	UC London	ESA Birmingham	ESA London
Total	7,291	1,401	2,784	1,416	1,604	49	37
Jan 2023	674	..[footnote 1]	357	124	146	27	19
Feb 2023	660	..	267	210	165	8	10
Mar 2023	692	..	305	109	253	14	8
Apr 2023	634	81	272	176	105	*[footnote 2]	*
May 2023	682	92	243	197	150	*	*
Jun 2023	765	134	294	146	191	*	*
Jul 2023	956	292	224	179	261	*	*
Aug 2023	893	261	305	146	181	*	*
Sep 2023	814	271	262	129	152	*	*
Oct 2023	521	266	255	*	*	*	*

Source: DWP management information on HTA referrals, correct at 4 December 2023.

Supporting information for Table 1:

• totals may not sum due to the disclosure control applied
• postcode districts covered by data in Table 1 are listed in Annex A
• referrals for PIP assessments went live in Birmingham postcode district B14 in April 2023. Referrals for PIP assessments went live in Birmingham postcode districts B17, B19, B78 went live in July 2023. However, a small number of referrals have been recorded for January to March 2023, but to avoid disclosure are suppressed in Table 1
• an individual claimant may be counted in Table 1 more than once e.g. due to submitting multiple claims for different benefits or re-referrals during the same period
• data is only provided for referrals to ESA WCAs in an in-house HTA between January and March 2023. This is to align with number of WCAs by claim start included in the latest ESA: outcomes of Work Capability Assessments including mandatory reconsiderations and appeals publication, released on 14 December 2023. Figures not included to align to this publication’s time periods are shown by ‘*’
• data is only provided for referrals to UC WCAs in an in-house HTA between January and September 2023.This is to align with the monthly UC WCA decision outcomes included in the latest: Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics, released on 14 December 2023. Figures not included to align to this publication’s time periods are shown by ‘*’

Table 1 shows that a higher number of PIP assessment referrals took place in the London HTA site, with 2,784 referrals (67%) compared to the 1,401 referrals in the Birmingham site (33%) from January to October 2023. However, Birmingham postcodes did not go live with PIP assessment referrals until April 2023.

A higher number of UC WCA referrals also took place in the London HTA site, with 1,604 referrals (53%) compared to the 1,416 UC WCA referrals that occurred in the Birmingham HTA site (47%) between January and September 2023.

However, for ESA WCA referrals, 49 referrals took place in the Birmingham HTA site (57%), more than the 37 referrals that took place in the London HTA site (43%), from January to March 2023.

5. Online PIP applications management information

Table 2 shows the number of claimants applying for PIP via the new digital GOV.UK channel, which went live on 27 July 2023 for some claimants living in certain postcode districts.

When registering a claim (via a PIP1 form), claimants provide personal information and contact details. A claimant subsequently provides information about how their disability or health condition impacts them (via a PIP2 form). Not all claimants who register a claim will go on to return the PIP2 form. Claimants who do register a claim may wait before submitting a PIP2 form, hence their PIP2 form could be submitted after the October 2023 cut-off date for this publication. As a result, PIP2 submissions are expected to be lower than registrations.

Table 2: Number of claimants applying for PIP via the new digital GOV.UK channel

Date	Registrations (PIP1)	PIP2 form submissions
Total	7,533	5,899
July 2023	314	199
August 2023	2,111	1,551
September 2023	2,561	2,070
October 2023	2,547	2,079

Source: DWP management information on claimants applying for PIP via the new digital GOV.UK channel, correct at 4 December 2023

Supporting information for Table 2:

• the online ‘Apply for PIP’ digital GOV.UK channel went live on the 27 July 2023
• the postcode districts covered by data in Table 2 are listed in Annex B
• registration (PIP1) and PIP2 submission volumes do not necessarily represent the same cohort of claimants in a particular month

6. About these statistics

The Health Transformation Programme (HTP) Evaluation Strategy was published on the 25 May 2023, providing an overview of plans to evaluate the HTP. The core principles of the evaluation strategy are to: 

• establish a robust and detailed evidence base to inform decisions about service improvements and how the HTP can drive better customer experience
• provide person-centred insight on what works for whom to ensure a broad range of needs are considered when transforming our services
• provide assurance that the business case has been met

This MI is an important part of the Programme’s plans to evaluate the services being developed, providing quantitative data for the HTA sites and online ‘Apply for PIP’ digital GOV.UK channel. This is the first publication of a quarterly series of HTP MI. The contents will remain under review and will be further developed when appropriate to do so.

7. Related statistics

This release of management information has been published on 19 December 2023 to align with the publication date of the Personal Independence Payment official statistics. This series will continue to be published on the same release cycle as the PIP statistics.

The quarterly PIP official statistics publication brings together statistics on:

• PIP new claims and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claim reassessments, covering the PIP customer journey from registration through to decision, ongoing entitlement, award review, mandatory reconsideration (MR) and appeal
• volumes of claimants entitled to PIP at a point in time (caseload), registrations and clearances for different stages of the journey (initiation of claims, award reviews and MRs), outcomes at clearance and median clearance times
• customer journey statistics tracking initial decisions and award review outcomes following a PIP assessment

The quarterly Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment statistics publication brings together statistics on:

• ESA Work Capability Assessment outcomes
• appeals decisions and mandatory reconsiderations for ESA claims (including re-assessed Incapacity Benefit claims)
• monthly median ESA Work Capability Assessment mandatory reconsiderations clearance times
• cohort statistics covering the ESA Work Capability Assessment process
• ESA Work Capability Assessment clearance times for initial claims

The Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment statistics publication brings together statistics on:

• the number of claimants on Universal Credit (UC) with a health condition or disability restricting their ability to work up to September 2023
• monthly DWP Universal Credit Work Capability Assessment (UC WCA) decisions and outcomes covering the period April 2019 to August 2023

As well as being available within the DWP statistical summary publications, data from these related statistics is also released through Stat-Xplore.

8. Further information and feedback

Lead analyst: Shaun Butcher

Analysts: Lucy Page and Rebecca McCaw

Contact DWP Press Office if you have any questions or feedback.

9. Annex A: Table 1 postcode districts

Postcode districts covered by in-house HTAs, from Table 1

HTA	Postcode districts
London	E5, N2, N3, N4, N6
Birmingham	B14, B17, B19, B78

10. Annex B: Table 2 postcode districts

Postcode districts where the Apply for PIP online digital service is currently available, from Table 2

Apply for PIP Postcode Districts

B16	BH13	BN23	GL5	IP12	KT9	LU3	NG17	RH7	WR14
B18	BH14	CB11	HD1	IP13	L10	LU4	NR31	RH8	WR2
B21	BH15	CM17	HD4	IP15	L21	LU7	NR32	RM10	WR5
B42	BH16	CM24	HP23	IP16	L22	M15	NR33	SG7	WR6
B66	BH17	CW12	HR7	IP17	L23	M16	NR34	SK11	WS6
B67	BH18	DE21	HR8	IP18	L29	M23	NR35	SO24	YO11
B68	BH2	DE7	IG1	IP19	L30	M31	PE21	ST13	YO12
B69	BH22	DE72	IG2	IP20	L38	M32	PE23	TN8	YO13
B70	BH3	DE75	IG3	IP3	L9	M33	PE24	TW16	YO14
B71	BH4	DY11	IG4	IP4	LE13	M41	PE25	TW17	YO22
BD11	BH5	DY13	IG5	IP5	LN10	NE1	PE34	WA14	YO25
BD12	BH6	E11	IG6	IP6	LN11	NE2	RG14	WA15
BD4	BH7	E12	IG7	KT10	LN12	NE4	RG20	WF13
BH1	BH8	E18	IG8	KT12	LN13	NE5	RG21	WF15
BH10	BH9	E7	IG9	KT6	LN9	NE98	RG22	WF16
BH11	BN20	GL1	IP10	KT7	LU1	NG10	RG23	WF17
BH12	BN22	GL10	IP11	KT8	LU2	NG15	RG24	WR13

10. Annex C: Glossary of terms

Term	Definition
Apply for PIP	Apply for PIP is an online service, currently available to a limited number of people in selected postcode districts in England (see Annex B). These claimants have the option to make their claim for PIP online through GOV.UK.
Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)	A benefit for individuals who have a disability or health condition that affects how much they can work. ESA gives an individual money to help with living costs if they are unable to work and/or support to get back into work if they are able to.
Health Transformation Area (HTA)	The Health Transformation Area is an in-house service to process claims and undertake associated assessments for claimants that live in the geographical postcodes of the HTA (see Annex A).
Health Transformation Programme (HTP)	A Programme which is transforming Health and Disability benefit services over the longer term, developing a customer-focused integrated Health Assessment Service (HAS) for people with disabilities and health conditions claiming a benefit that uses functional health assessments. It is also transforming the entire PIP service, including introducing an option to apply online.
Personal Independence Payment (PIP)	A benefit administered by DWP to help towards the extra costs caused by long-term disability, ill-health or terminal ill-health.
PIP1 Submission	A form completed, usually by telephone or online, to capture personal information and contact details of the claimant registering a PIP claim.
PIP2 Submission	A form for claimants to complete, usually on paper or online, on how their disability affects them, upon registration to PIP or when a change of circumstances occurs.
Registration	Claimant makes an application to claim PIP.
Universal Credit (UC)	A benefit for people over 18 (with some exceptions for those aged 16 or 17) but under State Pension age who are either ‘In work but on a low income’, or ‘Out of work.’
Work Capability Assessment (WCA)	An assessment to decide how much an individual’s illness or disability limits their capability to work. When an individual applies for Universal Credit (UC) they can report if they have a health condition or disability that affects their capability to work.

1. Figures under 5 are suppressed to avoid disclosure shown by ‘..’. ↩

2. Figures not included to align to this publication’s time periods are shown by ‘*’. ↩