Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are receiving PIP as a result of having a lung condition; and whether breathlessness is taken into account when conducting a PIP assessment.

In October 2024, there were 107,697 claimants with a respiratory diseased who received Personal Independence Payment (PIP). These figures are for England and Wales only and exclude claimants with Special Rules for End of Life. This figure can be found in Stat Xplore in the “PIP cases with Entitlement from 2019” table found here: Stat-Xplore - Home.

Entitlement to PIP is assessed on the basis of the needs arising from a health condition or disability, rather than the health condition or disability itself. Individuals can be affected in different ways by the same condition and so the outcome of a PIP claim depends very much on individual circumstances.

PIP legislation requires decision makers to consider whether individuals can complete each assessment activity “safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period”. These four components are known as the reliability criteria.

When determining whether an activity can be reliably carried out, symptoms such as breathlessness should be considered, as they may indicate that the activity cannot be done to an acceptable standard, repeatedly, or within a reasonable time period. The impact of completing one activity on the ability to complete others must also be considered.