Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

(asked on )

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of (a) employment support allowance and (b) personal independence payment have been sanctioned for abusive behaviour during a work capability assessment in each year since 2010.


Answered by
Alok Sharma Portrait
Alok Sharma
COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
This question was answered on 26th July 2018

The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Assessment is used to assess claimants and determine entitlement. There are no sanctions in PIP.

For Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) purposes, the Work Capability Assessment is used to assess whether the claimant has Limited Capability for Work. As this is not a conditionality requirement, sanctions do not apply.

ESA claimants can not be sanctioned for abusive behaviour.

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