Twelve experts appointed to the steering group for the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
- Group will work alongside three co-chairs to look at the role of PIP, ensuring it is fair and fit for the future.
- First ever full review of PIP since its introduction will report to Secretary of State in autumn 2026.
Disabled people will have their voices at the centre of the first ever comprehensive review of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) with the appointment of twelve members to its steering group.
The group of appointed members will bring lived experience of disability or long-term health conditions as well as direct experience of working within Disabled People's Organisations (DPOs).
Their experience spans welfare policy, accessibility and advocacy, and there are members with a background in co-production, governance, and leadership.
The group will provide strategic direction and help set priorities and a work plan for the Timms Review, alongside the Review's three co-chairs, Minister Sir Stephen Timms, Sharon Brennan and Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE.
Together, they will look at the role of PIP in allowing disabled people to achieve better health and live independent lives; the PIP assessment criteria; and how the assessment could provide access to the right support across the benefits system.
The Timms Review will report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by autumn 2026, with an interim update expected ahead of that.
Minister for Social Security and Disability Sir Stephen Timms said:
Disabled people deserve a system that truly supports them to live with independence and dignity, and that fairly reflects the reality of their lives today.
That's why we're putting disabled people at the heart of this Review - ensuring their voices shape the changes that will help them achieve better health, greater independence, and access to the right support when they need it.
We're delighted to announce the appointment of the steering group members, who alongside myself and the Review's co-chairs will report back to the Secretary of State in the autumn.
Co-chair Sharon Brennan said:
The group we have chosen shows our commitment to ensuring this review is co produced with people from a diversity of backgrounds including lived and living experience, protected characteristics, geographies and professions.
But 15 people can't represent everyone, which is why our work will be part of a wider engagement process to ensure we hear from many more voices throughout the review.
Co-chair Dr Clenton Farquharson CBE said:
Personal Independence Payment plays a vital role in enabling disabled people to live independent lives.
This Review will listen closely to lived experience, test whether the system is fair, and ensure PIP reflects the realities of disability in the modern world.
The steering group members are:
- Dr Mark Brookes MBE, Advocacy Lead, Dimensions UK
- George Fielding, Disability rights advocate and Non-Executive Advisor
- Tara Flood, Head of Co-production, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
- Mark Fosbrook, Disability Inclusion Manager, West Midlands Combined Authority
- Ben Geiger, Professor of Social Science and Health, King's College London
- Katrina Gilman, National Officer for Disability Equality, UNISON
- Jean-André Prager, Senior Fellow, Policy Exchange and Director, Flint Global
- Dr Lucy Reynolds, Chair of Board of Trustees, Disability North, and Founder, We Are All Disabled CIC
- Dr Felix Shi, Lecturer in Management, Bangor University
- Dr Dharshana Sridhar, Head of Public Affairs, Spinal Injuries Association
- Phil Stevens, CEO, Disability Action Haringey, and Chair of the Board of Trustees, Disability Action in Islington
- Leila Talmadge, Founder and former Director, Autistic Knowledge Development CIC
The goal of the Review is to ensure that PIP is fair and fit for the future - reflecting the reality of people's conditions and their goals and ambitions, and taking account of changes in society since it was first devised and introduced. Since PIP was introduced in 2013, there have been shifting trends in long-term health conditions and disability. More people are living with a disability, but the increase in the number in receipt of disability benefits is double the rate of increasing prevalence among working-age adults in England and Wales.
PIP claims have grown considerably in recent years. In 2019, there were two million working-age people in receipt of PIP. This number grew by 50 percent in the following five years and is set to more than double from two to over four million people by the end of the decade.
