Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which parts of Birmingham will be covered by her Department’s second Health Transformation Area; and when she expects that pilot to start engaging with disabled people.

As part of a carefully phased approach to launching the Health Transformation Programme, we have begun handling Work Capability Assessment cases from a small number of claimants within the Birmingham postcodes of B14, B17, B19 and B78. We plan to take on Personal Independence Payment cases from these same postcodes from Spring 2022.

The programme engages with a group of national disabled people’s representative groups monthly where we have gained insights from disability charities to improve the design of the new service. We have also established and met a local group of disabled people’s representative bodies for the area the HTA covers in London and we are establishing a similar group to engage with for the Birmingham site.