Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will instruct her officials to copy employment and support allowance claimants into all correspondence that they address to those claimants' doctors.

To send claimants a copy of all correspondence would incur unnecessary duplication. When making a claim, customers give their consent for the Department to contact their doctor or other healthcare professionals for further medical information if required and to inform them of the outcome of their assessment. To send claimants a copy of these would incur unnecessary duplication.

The Department is continually reviewing and amending claimant communications, in consultation with support organisations and the assessment provider, to ensure they are clear and informative and meet claimants’ needs