Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Justin Tomlinson and Mark Pawsey

Monday 27th January 2020 Commons Chamber

[Mark Pawsey (Rugby) (Con)]

6. What steps she is taking to reduce the number of assessments undertaken by people with disabilities.

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Justin Tomlinson)]

We have made improvements to reduce assessments for work capability and personal independence payments. This includes reducing review frequency for pensioners and people with severe or progressive conditions. We are also exploring our manifesto commitment to ensure a minimum award review duration for PIP awards.

[Mark Pawsey]

I am grateful to the Minister for his remarks, but I would like to tell him about a constituent I met recently who suffers from a progressive condition and is bothered about the frequency with which she is required to provide information, often the same information, on a form that is both lengthy and complex. Does the Minister agree that once an award has been made, the frequency of assessments should be reduced? Might that be considered in the forthcoming Green Paper?

[Justin Tomlinson]

My hon. Friend has worked hard in this area for a number of years. As part of the forthcoming Green Paper, we will be looking at how we can better use evidence, how we can continue to improve the claimant’s experience, and how we can reduce the need for unnecessary face-to-face assessments through the integrated assessment principle.