Department for Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 27 November 2025.
Siân Berry
Green Spokesperson (Crime and Policing), Green Spokesperson (Justice), Green Spokesperson (Transport), Green Spokesperson (Work and Pensions), Green Spokesperson (Culture, Media and Sport), Green Spokesperson (Democratic Standards)
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure (a) transparency and (b) openness on the the decision-making processes of the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment.
Stephen Timms
The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions
We recognise the high levels of interest in the Timms Review and are committed to continued transparency and evaluation, listening, learning and adapting as this work continues.
The Review will be co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, to ensure that expertise from a wide range of perspectives is drawn upon. This means the Government will share ownership and responsibility for the Review and what it recommends.
On 30 October, I announced that the Review will be co-chaired by myself alongside Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE. We will oversee a steering group responsible for leading the co-production process, setting the Review’s strategic direction, priorities and workplan. The group will be made up of a Majority of disabled people or representatives of disabled people’s organisations and will be recruited through an open and transparent Expression of Interest (EOI) process. The EOI is now live and will run until 30 November. The group will consider how best to engage with the widespread interest in its work.
The Review will report to the Secretary of State for final decisions in autumn 2026, with an interim update expected ahead of that.
Yes0 people think so
No0 people think not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.
