Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons a glucose machine is not considered to be an aid or an appliance for monitoring a health condition for the purpose of the awarding of points in relation to descriptor 3 for a claim for personal independence payments.

A glucose meter is not considered an aid under Activity 3 as it does not meet the statutory definition of an aid. An aid is a device which “improves, provides or replaces C’s (claimant’s) impaired function” (Social Security (Personal Independence Payment) Regulations 2013, regulation 2). Although a glucose meter is not considered an aid, if a claimant requires supervision, prompting or assistance to use such a device to manage medication or to monitor their health condition they could score under Activity 3.