Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 18 December 2025 to Question 99887, how many Condition Insight Reports are made available to health professionals making Personal Independence Payment assessments; and whether sickle cell disorder is the subject of a Condition Insight Report.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Health assessments are not medical consultations and do not require health professionals (HPs) to diagnose conditions or recommend treatment. Instead, they are functional assessments designed to evaluate how an individual’s health conditions or impairments affect their ability to carry out daily living activities.
HPs carrying out Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments have access to a suite of 54 Condition Insight Reports (CIRs). These reports provide background information on a range of health conditions and their potential functional impacts, supporting them in carrying out evidence-based assessments.
Sickle cell disorder is not currently the subject of a dedicated CIR. However, the CIRs and Continuing Professional Development documents available to HPs provide detailed and quality-assured information on many of the symptoms commonly associated with sickle cell disorder.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of Personal Independence Payment applicants where the main disabling condition was Anaemia - Sickle cell a) lodged an appeal after a completed Mandatory Reconsideration, b) had their appeal lapse prior to reaching tribunal and c) had their initial decision overturned at tribunal between April 2020 and March 2025.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The response is covered by the table below. All data below refers to claims under normal rules in areas under DWP policy ownership, where the claimants’ primary health condition is Anaemia – Sickle cell, with initial decisions made between April 2020 and March 2025.
| Volume | Per cent (%) of total PIP initial assessment decisions |
Claimants who received an MR outcome who then lodged an appeal | 290 | 11 |
Claimants who had their appeal lapse prior to reaching tribunal | 50 | 2 |
Claimants who had their initial decision overturned at tribunal | 120 | 5 |
PIP initial assessment decisions comprise awards and disallowances following a PIP assessment. They do not include pre-assessment decisions, award review decisions or changes of circumstances decisions.
All volumes have been rounded to the nearest 10 and percentages have been rounded to the nearest percentage point.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance on sickle cell disease his Department provides to Health Professionals making Personal Independence Payment assessments.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments are not medical assessments and do not require health professionals (HPs) to diagnose conditions or recommend treatment. Instead, they are functional assessments designed to evaluate how an individual’s health condition (such as sickle cell disease) or impairment(s) affects their ability to carry out daily living activities. HPs conducting assessments are trained specialists in disability analysis, focusing on understanding the functional impact of a claimant’s condition rather than its clinical diagnosis.
All HPs conducting these assessments receive comprehensive training on assessing the effects of both physical and mental health conditions. HPs have access to a broad suite of Core Training and Guidance Materials. These include Condition Insight Reports and Continuing Professional Development documents, which provide detailed, quality-assured information on many of the symptoms commonly associated with sickle cell disease.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to promote the use of engineering controls such as (a) biological safety cabinets and (b) closed system drug transfer devices during the preparation and administration of hazardous medicinal products.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 October 2025 to Question UIN 84444.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he will require NHS employers to provide ongoing education, training and health surveillance for all staff (a) who handle or (b) may be exposed to hazardous medicinal products.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 October 2025 to Question UIN 84444.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to develop a list of hazardous medicinal products and require safety data sheets for finished medicines.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 30 October 2025 to Question UIN 84436.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to make further savings after the implementation of the Universal Credit Act in April 2026.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
This Government is committed to a social security system which raises employment and living standards by supporting and incentivising people into work and to work more, supports those who can never work to live with dignity, reduces poverty, promotes fairness and controls overall spending to ensure the long-term sustainability of the system for future generations.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the forthcoming changes to Universal Credit Health element for new applicants from 2026 on costs to local government.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department set out its plans to monitor and evaluate the changes in the published Impact Assessment.
Around 4 million households will benefit overall from Government’s decision to increase the Universal Credit (UC) standard allowance – estimated to be worth £725 annually by 2029/30 in cash terms based on Spring Statement 2025 economic assumptions - £250 annually above inflation for a single household aged 25 or over.
For existing UC Health Element recipients and customers with severe, lifelong conditions the combined rate of the UC standard allowance and the UC Health Element will rise at least in line with inflation every year for the next four years.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has assessed the potential impact of raising the Housing Benefit earnings disregard for people in supported accommodation on employment rates.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
We acknowledge there is a challenge arising from the interaction between Universal Credit and Housing Benefit for those living in supported and temporary accommodation. We are considering options to improve work incentives for residents of supported and temporary accommodation, while taking into account the views of stakeholders.
The Department recognises that an increased earnings disregard for people living in supported accommodation is likely to have a net positive impact on employment rates. It remains the department’s priority to ensure that those who can work are supported to enter the labour market and to sustain employment. As funding is required to allow a change, any future decisions will take account of the current fiscal context.
Asked by: Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour - Clapham and Brixton Hill)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of reducing waiting times for gynaecology services on women’s ability to return to or remain in work.
Answered by Diana Johnson - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Joint Work and Health Directorate is collaborating with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to improve the evidence on the relationship between health and labour market outcomes. The ONS plans to link NHS waiting times data (that they recently acquired access to) to Census, DWP Benefits and HMRC PAYE records to analyse the relationship between waiting time duration (for various health conditions and procedures) and labour market outcomes (such as employment status, gross pay and benefit receipt) in England. This should help identify the potential impact of trends in waiting lists for various healthcare services, including gynaecology services, on the number of people out of work. In the short-term, the ONS is supporting NHS England and HM Treasury to produce estimates of the employment impacts of reducing waiting times for elective hospital treatment.
The 10 Year Health Plan, published in July, stated our intention to break down barriers to opportunity by delivering the holistic support that people need to access and thrive in employment by ensuring a better health service for everyone, regardless of condition or service area. The Plan sets out the vision for what good joined-up care looks like for people with a combination of health and care needs. Furthermore, it outlines how the neighbourhood health service will join up support from across the work, health and skills systems to help address the multiple complex challenges that often stop people finding and staying in work.