Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of personal independence payment claimants with incurable illnesses were (a) invited for a reassessment and (b) successful in their reassessment since March 2020.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is an extra costs benefit based on assessment of disability-related needs rather than medical condition. Reviews of PIP are a key part of the benefit and ensure that not only do awards remain correct where needs may change but that we also maintain contact with the claimant. Importantly, the length of an award is based on an individual’s needs, rather than their condition or disability, and can vary from nine months to an on-going award, with a light touch review at the ten-year point.

As such, it’s not possible to provide data specifically on Personal Independence Payment claimants with incurable illnesses. Data on Award Review clearances broken down by disability is published covering June 2016 - January 2021 (the latest available data). This can be found in table 6B(iv) in the following published statistical tables:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/969159/tables-pip-statistics-to-january-2021.xlsx