Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of disabled car parking spaces at each assessment centre for (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment and support allowance.

Ensuring our assessment services are accessible to all claimants is a priority in line with the standards under the Equality Act 2010. Where claimants are not able to access particular assessment centre, our assessment providers provide alternative means of delivering the service. There is no requirement to provide on-site parking.

All assessment providers delivering the Work Capability Assessment and Personal Independence Payment assessments are required to consider the needs of claimants such as proximity to public transport routes and access to suitable parking e.g. Blue Badge parking.

Individuals can claim the cost of public and private transport from their current address plus parking fees. Taxi fares can also be claimed if customers cannot travel by public transport due to their health condition or disability. The assessment provider will try and meet any such reasonable requests.

Individuals will be issued details about the assessment centre, if they are unable to attend or have any concerns they should contact the assessment provider.