Darwen woman gets ESA support after year-long wait

Andy MacNae, the MP for Rossendale and Darwen highlighted the case after a constituent contacted him this summer, frustrated by delays in her Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) application.

The woman applied for ESA in June 2025 and was placed on the lower assessment rate while awaiting paperwork that would determine whether she qualified for the support group.

According to Mr MacNae, she chased the claim in September 2025 but was told to continue waiting and that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) would contact her.

However, the form she needed to complete did not arrive until April this year, around 10 months after she first applied.

Mr MacNae said: “A constituent in Darwen contacted me this summer after waiting more than a year for a decision on her benefit claim.

“She applied for Employment and Support Allowance in June 2025 and was put on the lower assessment rate while she waited for the medical form that would decide whether she qualified for access to the support group.

“She chased it in September. She was told to wait, and that the Department would be in touch.

“The form reached her in April this year. She filled it in and sent it straight back. Then the waiting started again. Every time she rang she was told she was a priority, that she should stop phoning, and that a text would come when an appointment was ready.

“I wrote to the Department for Work and Pensions on her behalf, and she was offered a cancellation appointment that same afternoon.

“She has been placed in the support group, backdated to September 2025, with the arrears she was owed.”

The DWP has since apologised, saying it is unclear why she was made to wait 10 months and that it is taking steps to increase capacity.

Mr MacNae is encouraging others who are waiting for a benefits decision and getting nowhere to get in touch with him via his office.