Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to his Department's Personal Independence Payment Assessment Guide, paragraph 1.5.4, what recent assessment he has made of compliance with the guidance on cases that should not require a face-to-face consultation by assessors; and what estimate he has made of the number of claimants who were invited to attend unnecessary face-to-face assessments in the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available.

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 Healthcare Professionals consider that there is sufficient existing information to carry out an assessment based on the paper evidence, or where there is strong evidence to indicate that a face-to-face consultation is likely to be stressful for the claimant.