Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of abolishing repeat disability assessments for people with progressive conditions, such as multiple sclerosis.

Through the Severe Conditions criteria, we have stopped repeat assessments on ESA/UC for people with the most severe and lifelong conditions.

We have committed to testing a new Severe Disability Group (SDG) for people who have severe and lifelong conditions that will not improve. These people could then benefit from a simplified process without ever needing to complete a detailed application form or go through an assessment. We will consider these test results once complete to influence thinking on the next stages of this work.