Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what analysis her Department has conducted on the psychological effect on children of transitioning at 16 years of age from disability living allowance to personal independent payment while in full-time education.

We are absolutely committed to improving the overall Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimant experience as this is what claimants rightly expect and deserve. We will continue to engage with stakeholders and disabled people to deliver further improvements where needed and are committed to ensuring that everyone has the same opportunity to lead a full, active and independent life.

The design of PIP has always been on the basis of 16 being the appropriate lower age-limit for claims. That has been the case since the first consultation on replacing Disability Living Allowance with PIP took place in 2010 and through subsequent consultations on the design of the assessment criteria and the other detailed processes to support claims, including the needs and requirements of young people reaching age 16 and younger adults more widely.