Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment support allowance claimants in the work-related activity group have (a) come off that allowance and (b) had periods of reclaiming that allowance and what proportion of those claimants had fluctuating illnesses in the latest period for which figures are available.

Statistics on Employment and Support Allowance off-flows, by phase of claim, are published and available at:

http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/flows/flows_off/tabtool.html

Guidance on how to extract the information can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dwp-tabulation-tool-guidance

The information requested on Employment and Support Allowance claimants reclaiming ESA and the proportion of claimants who had fluctuating illnesses is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.