Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information her Department holds on the proportion of (a) employment and support allowance, (b) jobseeker's allowance and (c) universal credit claimants who have (i) accepted and (ii) not accepted that her Department has taken into account their personal circumstances when deciding upon the claimant commitments which apply to their claim.

As part of the process of making a claim, all JSA (including New Style), New Style ESA and Universal Credit claimants discuss and agree a claimant commitment statement as part of the conditions of their claim.

The Department does not hold information on the reasons why a claimant commitment is or is not accepted by the claimant. Where a claimant commitment is not accepted, for any reason, a claim cannot be made, unless reasonable adjustments apply.

The reasonable requirements in a Claimant Commitment are based on the appropriate conditionality group for the claimant, and the Work Coach is able to tailor the requirements to include adjustments or easements for personal circumstances. If a claimant and their Work Coach are unable to agree on the reasonable requirements in their claimant commitment, they can request another Work Coach to review this.