Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people with multiple sclerosis in (a) Scotland, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Wales and (d) England (i) made new applications for personal independence payments and (ii) were reassessed from disability living allowance to personal independence payments in each year since 2013.

The Department does not hold the data requested on the disability of a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claimant at the point of registration (application) for a claim. Data on a PIP claimant’s condition is not recorded until the claimant attends an assessment.

The latest available data on PIP clearances can be broken down by main disabling condition for both new claims and DLA reassessment claims for those that attended an assessment (awarded and disallowed post referral to the AP due to failing assessment), for each month from the introduction of PIP in April 2013 to the last available data in April 2019. Data can also be split by geographical area within Great Britain (region).

Stat-Xplore can be found at https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/

Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/index.html

Please note that the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is only responsible for benefits in Great Britain. Social security benefits, including PIP, are a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and your questions regarding PIP in Northern Ireland should be directed at the Department of Communities in Northern Ireland.