Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many new personal independence payment (PIP) claimants with epilepsy did not receive an award during their initial PIP assessment and subsequently received an award at tribunal.

Since the introduction of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) a total of 7,690 decisions have been made on new claims with an epilepsy condition listed as the main health condition. Of these, 5,150 claimants did not receive any benefit award at the initial assessment and 630 of these people subsequently appealed their decision. Of those who appealed their decision 420 cases were settled in favour of the claimant.

Under PIP, 29 per cent of working age claimants with epilepsy recorded as their primary disabling condition receive the highest level of support compared to 6 per cent under Disability Living Allowance when PIP was introduced.

Notes:

• Data is based on primary disabling condition as recorded on the PIP computer system. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which the decision is based but only the primary condition is shown in these statistics.
• Data is up to March 2018.

• This is unpublished data. It should be used with caution and it may be subject to future revision.
• Data taken from the PIP computer system’s management information.
• Data has been rounded to the nearest 10.