Employment and Support Allowance: Mental Health
(asked on 13th March 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many and what percentage of the new style Employment and Support Allowance applications were for the primary condition of poor mental health in (1) 2023, (2) 2024, and (3) 2025.
Initial ESA Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) by date of decision:
| January 2023 - December 2023 | January 2024 - December 2024 | January 2025 - September 2025 | |||
| Volume | Percentage | Volume | Percentage | Volume | Percentage |
ESA WCAs with main disabling condition 'mental and behavioural disorders' | 19,260 | 23% | 18,210 | 24% | 11,040 | 23% |
ESA WCAs with main disabling condition other than 'mental and behavioural disorders' | 63,350 | 77% | 57,850 | 76% | 37,320 | 77% |
Total | 82,610 | 100% | 76,060 | 100% | 48,360 | 100% |
* Data is taken from Stat-Xplore. Volumes have been rounded to the nearest ten. Totals may not sum due to rounding and the disclosure control applied.
* The latest available data is for September 2025. Therefore, the 2025 volumes do not cover the entire year and are not comparable to the 2023 or 2024 volumes.
* New Style ESA applications and Work Capability Assessments (WCAs) are distinct processes, and condition is centrally collated only once a WCA has been completed. Not all applications proceed to a WCA, and the primary health condition as per the International Classification of Diseases (2010) classification (ICD10) used in official statistics is captured at the WCA stage rather than on the application form. As a result, the only robust data source for health condition is WCA data. The figures include WCAs for means-tested ESA as well as new style, contributory ESA, but the great majority will be for new style ESA