Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of using online PIP pre-application screening questions on the number of disabled people applying for PIP.

On Thursday 27 July, we began testing the next phase of the new online service to apply for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) where a limited number of claimants in selected postcode areas have been able to begin their claim for PIP entirely online.

We have completed an equality assessment for this online service and tested it with a range of users to ensure the claimant journey is as easy as possible. Built into this service is an eligibility checker tool with a set of questions designed to help ensure people are aware of what is considered in the PIP application process. These are not screening questions. These pre-application eligibility questions are optional; they are intended to guide a user who may not be sure if PIP is right for them, and signpost them to other benefits applicable. However, citizens in selected user groups and areas where the service is operating can begin their online PIP claim without needing to use this tool. Information within these questions is already included on the GOV.UK PIP guidance pages. Everyone who completes the eligibility checker questions is signposted to claim online if they wish.

We are developing the online service carefully and incrementally. We will continually review the service as we develop it to ensure it meets the needs of claimants.