Mum with disabled son 'waiting 10 months for DWP to decide' on her disability living allowance

MPs have criticised the DWP over reports some claimants are being left waiting up to 10 months for disability living allowance.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall was among government ministers being quizzed on the concerning delays to the allowance and other benefits in parliament on Monday.

Green Party MP Ellie Chowns cited one example of a mother with a disabled son, who had been forced to wait more than 18 weeks for the DWP to decide whether her disability living allowance application has been successful. Chowns said she has now been told to wait a further 25 weeks.

The concerns come amid longstanding issues facing people with disabilities claiming the benefit.

In April, figures from the DWP revealed widespread delays to awards for sickness and disability benefits, with just four disabled children in every 100 receiving their payments on time in the last financial year.

There has been a massive fall in on-time payments of disability living allowance since 2016, when 96.8% of children had their claims processed within 40 days. This figure has now fallen to just 3.5%.

In August, a report found a surge in young people claiming disability benefits.

Research by the Resolution Foundation found 1.2 million children across England and Wales were living with a disability, with the most significant increase among teenagers. More than 682,000 young people received the Child Disability Living Allowance (DLA) in 2023, it said, up from 333,000 in 2013.

The report noted young people aged 15-16 were more likely than adults in their 20s, 30s or 40s to receive a disability benefit, only surpassed by those aged 52 and older.

To help counter this, disability campaigners have urged Ofgem to introduce new social tariffs for disabled people in receipt of disability living allowance or personal independence payment to help them with soaring levels of energy debt linked to the expense of running life-saving machinery at home.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Chowns — the Green MP for North Herefordshire — said: "A mother of a disabled child has waited more than 18 weeks, and is now being told to wait an extra 25 weeks of mandatory reconsideration."

"A constituent of mine, an 82-year-old gentleman, has spent more than 16 weeks waiting for his pension credit application to be processed.

"What is the minister doing to take steps to reduce the delay in processing applications for pension credit and other benefits to lift households out of poverty?” she added.

Responding to the criticism, Alison McGovern, the minister for work and pensions, cited significant backlogs within the benefits system more widely, saying the department had brought in 500 extra staff to process pension credit applications alone for a surge in applications this winter.

McGovern insisted the government was working "very quickly" to deal with the backlog.

Who is eligible for disability living allowance?

Usually, to qualify for disability living allowance, the child must:

• Be under 16 - anyone over 16 must apply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

• Need extra looking after or have walking difficulties

• Be in England, Wales, or an European Economic Area (EEA) country or Switzerland

• Have lived in the UK for at least 6 of the last 12 months, if over 3 years old

• Be habitually resident in the UK, Ireland, Isle of Man or the Channel Islands

• Not be subject to immigration control

More information can be found on the gov.uk website.