Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to resume assessing Industrial Injuries' Disablement Benefit claims for (a) asbestosis and (b) diffuse pleural thickening.

Our priority throughout this health emergency continues to be to protect the public and our assessment providers’ staff, while ensuring people get the benefits they are entitled to quickly and safely. Face-to-face assessments remain suspended while we review what activity we can gradually start reintroducing in line with the latest public health advice. We will confirm next steps as soon as possible.

In the meantime, for claimants with the most serious or terminal conditions, claims continue to be processed and decisions made as normal. We are actively considering how to deal with those cases not currently being processed.