Research and analysis

PIP administrative exercise for MM: progress report to 31 August 2023

Published 26 October 2023

This is the first progress report for MM.

Policy background and introduction

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) was introduced in April 2013. PIP replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for claimants of working age. PIP is a payment that is based on the functional needs of a claimant arising from a disability or long term health condition.

This publication is concerned with the Supreme Court judgment, known as MM, which led to changes in the way Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is assessed.

MM judgment

On 18 July 2019, the Supreme Court handed down a judgment following an Upper Tribunal (UT) decision (handed down on 6 April 2016), which changed the way the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) considers the definition of ‘social support’ when engaging with other people face to face (and when ‘prompting’ should be considered ‘social support’) in Daily Living Activity 9, and how far in advance that social support can be provided. 

Administrative exercise

From 20 September 2021, the department has been carrying out an administrative exercise looking at entitlement to PIP on the date of the UT decision to review whether affected claimants are eligible for more support under PIP. This includes looking again at claims decided before the guidance was implemented for new PIP decisions on 17 September 2020, and some where the department did not award PIP.

The MM judgment can only affect a claimant’s assessment in the Daily Living part of the PIP assessment. We are reviewing cases where additional points for Activity 9 (‘prompting’ or ‘social support’) may make a material difference to the amount of PIP claimants’ are entitled to.

We are not reviewing claims if:

• the enhanced rate of the daily living part of PIP has been awarded continuously since 6 April 2016
• a Tribunal made a decision on a claim since 6 April 2016
• a decision not to award PIP was made before 6 April 2016

This is a complex exercise, with a large number of unique and sensitive cases. Claimants most likely to benefit from the MM judgment are those who currently score 9(b), where the prompting they receive should be considered as ‘social support’ and means scoring an extra 2 points. The other group of claimants who might benefit on just the timing part of the judgment (support in advance of the activity), are those who score 9(a). This group will be invited to contact the department if they think their claim is affected by this judgment. We have identified that we need to conduct around 326,000 reviews for the 9(b) group.

Purpose of publication

This publication presents DWP management information on progress on checking potentially affected cases as at 31 August 2023. It includes:

• the number of cases completed to date
• the number of payments made to qualifying claimants from the application of the MM judgment
• the total amount of backdated PIP paid to qualifying claimants from the application of the MM judgment
• the number of cases with a MR cleared
• the number of cases with a MM review decision changed
• the total amount of backdated PIP paid to qualifying claimants who have had a review decision changed at MR

Progress on reviewing cases

The department started reviewing cases in September 2021. We are reviewing claimants affected by the definition of “social support” during the period under review, where the extra points they may receive would make a material difference to their award. We are also inviting claimants who might be affected by the timing element to contact the department, if they think their claim is affected by this judgment and they were not previously identified as needing help to engage with other people face to face, because any help they received was in advance.

The department has prioritised checking the claims of individuals whom we know from our systems to be terminally ill and cases where the claimant is recently deceased, to ensure that they, or their representatives, receive any backdated entitlement as quickly as possible.

DWP management information at 31 August 2023 shows:

• around 79,000 cases have been reviewed
• around 14,000 payments have been made to qualifying claimants
• the total amount of additional payments the department has paid out to qualifying claimants is around £74 million

Mandatory Reconsiderations

Claimants who wish to dispute a decision on the review of their PIP claim under MM can ask DWP to reconsider the decision. This is called a mandatory reconsideration (MR) and must be completed before an appeal is made and lodged with His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).

• around 390 cases have had a MR cleared
• around 100 cases have had a MM review decision changed
• The total amount of additional payments the department has paid out to qualifying claimants who have had a review decision changed at MR is around £420,000

Notes about the data

Source: The data used is management information from the PIP administrative exercise at 31 August 2023. A case is defined as a unique individual within a given group. Management information is subject to change as we continue to check potentially affected cases.

Rounding

All figures have been rounded as shown in the table. Some numbers may not sum due to rounding.

Range	Rounded to the nearest
0 to 1,000	10
1,001 to 10,000	100
10,001 to 100,000	1,000
100,001 to 1,000,000	10,000
1,000,001 to 10,000,000	100,000
10,000,001 to 100,000,000	1,000,000

Source: DWP management information from the PIP administrative exercise at 31 August 2023.

Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics

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

• trustworthiness
• quality
• value

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

Trustworthiness – is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics

Progress on the PIP administration exercise is based on DWP management information supplied through 2 sources:

1. a data capture tool built to allow consistent and efficient recording of case review progress in the PIP administration exercise
2. the department’s computer system used to administer the benefit

Quality – is about using data and methods that produce assured statistics

The data presented on progress is partially taken from the data capture tool developed to accurately record progress and levels of arrears payments. Drop-down menus and validation checks assist in reliable data recording. Data recording checks are carried out by operational staff. DWP analysts have engaged with operational staff to ensure the quality of the data is fit-for-purpose.

The data presented is also partially taken from the computer system used to administer the benefit. As well as assurance on design of business rules used for producing figures, value outputs have been sense-checked against other outputs for comparable periods.

As figures are derived from a mixture of automated and manually collated administrative data numbers are provided as management information and not official statistics.

Value – is about publishing statistics that support society’s needs for information

This release provides a progress update on the PIP administrative exercise, together with context for those figures.

In addition, it aims to reduce the administrative burden of answering Parliamentary questions, Freedom of Information requests and ad hoc queries to ensure timely responses to public queries.

To support financial planning and management of departmental business, figures have been seen in advance by ministers and officials. This is in line with the Code, where pre-release access does not apply for releases based on routine management information – as covered in para 3.6 of the National Statistician’s guidance, February 2018.

Future releases

We intend to publish further updates on progress in 2024 and 2025, with a final update on completion of the exercise early in 2026.

Where to find out more

You can find out more in the following publications:

• changes to PIP law from 6 April 2016
• written statement tabled on 17 September 2020
• written statement tabled on 20 September 2021

For more information on PIP, please see:

• Personal Independence Payment statistics
• DWP benefit expenditure and caseload tables

Contact information

The department will be contacting all those identified as potentially impacted.

For press enquiries, contact DWP Press Office on: 0203 267 5144