Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department plans to take to collect data on the number of people with arthritis who qualify for personal independence payments on the basis of their need to use aids and appliances.

The department routinely collects management information on the descriptors awarded to each claimant when they have a PIP assessment.

In the PIP assessment, individuals are assessed on their ability to complete a number of key every day activities (for example, relating to the ability to dress and undress). Within each activity there are a number of descriptors, each representing a varying level of ability to carry out the activity. A descriptor may indicate the need to use an aid or appliance.

Data on the claimant’s primary disabling condition is recorded for those individuals who have a PIP assessment. Claimants may often have multiple disabling conditions upon which their decision is based, but only the primary condition is recorded.