Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to her Department's Press release of 16 March 2020, Face-to-face health assessments for benefits suspended amid coronavirus outbreak, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of her Department's temporary change to telephone or paper-based assessments for disability benefit claimants; and what representations her Department has received from (a) organisations and (b) claimants on the effectiveness of that change to the assessment process.

The Department will be evaluating the effectiveness of telephone assessments, including claimant perception and stakeholder feedback.