Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of people with conditions that do not require face-to-face assessments for a personal independence payment application but are still being invited for one in the last 12 months.

Decisions on whether an assessment can be undertaken based on the paper evidence alone, or via a face to face consultation, are made by a Healthcare Professional on a case by case basis and are not dependent on a claimant’s condition, except for those people who are applying under the terminally ill provisions. Most people will be required to attend a face to face consultation except where there is sufficient existing information to carry out an assessment based on the paper evidence.