Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to Part One of the National Disability Strategy published on 28 July 2021, what recent progress her Department has made on exploring options to reduce the frequency of repeat Work Capability Assessments and Personal Independence Payment assessments, to avoid assessments where a change of award is unlikely.

As announced in the recent Shaping Future Support: Health and Disability Green Paper we want to make changes to the assessment process so people with the most severe health conditions and disabilities have a simpler process to claim the benefits they are entitled to. We are exploring how to test a new Severe Disability Group (SDG) so those with severe and lifelong conditions can benefit from a simplified process to access ESA/UC and PIP without ever needing to complete a detailed application form or go through a face to assessment.

We have already stopped reassessments for people with the most severe conditions which are unlikely to change. In Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper, we proposed ways to further reduce the number of unnecessary assessments, while continuing to ensure support is properly targeted. Alongside this, we proposed ways of offering greater flexibility and simplicity in the way that assessments are delivered, including improving the evidence we use to make decisions from health assessments, and learn the lessons of coronavirus where we introduced telephone and video assessments.

We consulted on a range of proposals in the Green Paper and received more than 4,500 responses. We will set out next steps in a White Paper later this year.