Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Written Statement of 2 November 2017, HCWS218, on social security, how existing personal independence payment (PIP) claimants who were considered ineligible for support as a result of previous PIP assessment guidelines will be (a) identified and (b) assessed according to the updated PIP assessment guidelines.

Claimants of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) will not have to wait until 2022/23 to benefit from these changes. New claimants will be assessed under the updated guidance from the 13^th of November.

Existing claimants will have their awards reviewed under a separate exercise to ensure that their awards take into account the changes to the term ‘safely’ and the severity of harm. Those who were previously assessed as being ineligible for PIP from 9^th of March will also have their award looked at again as part of this exercise. For those who see an increase in their award or are now entitled to PIP, we will be paying claimants their full entitlements back to the date of the judgment (9 March 2017).

This will be a complex exercise and it’s important we get it right so we will begin testing the process from the 20^th of November 2017.