Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of successful claims for (1) Personal Independence Payments, and (2) Employment and Support Allowance/Support Group Top Up in Universal Credit, were reached without medical evidence supplied by a healthcare professional who was not involved in the eligibility assessment, in the financial years (a) 2021–22, (b) 2022–23, (c) 2023–24, and (d) 2024–25.

The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

The Department does not hold data centrally on whether a health care professional had supplied any medical evidence prior to a claimant’s assessment. Obtaining such data would require a manual search of individual records.