Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to review the eligibility criteria for personal independence payment to enable all claimants living through terminal illness to receive automatically the enhanced rate of the daily living element of that benefit.

The Government is committed to supporting the needs of terminally ill claimants and ensuring that benefit rules are applied sensitively.

The special rules applying to people who are terminally ill, including the reasonable expectation of death within 6-month rule, were first introduced in 1990 for Attendance Allowance following a recommendation from the Social Security Advisory Committee. The rules have been carried forward into a number of benefits and now apply across Attendance Allowance, Disability Living Allowance, Employment and Support Allowance, Personal Independence Payment and Universal Credit. The rules are also used elsewhere, for example the Early Access to Financial Assistance Scheme, administered by the Pension Protection Fund.

The Department has recently met with a range of stakeholders, including leading clinicians and charities, to discuss the current wording used in the benefit system around terminal illness and will soon be providing clinicians with updated guidance with the aim of improving their understanding of the special rules. This is part of our continuous improvement work to improve people’s experience of claiming benefits and to ensure the benefits are working effectively and meeting the needs of claimants both now and in the future.