Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if her Department has considered the potential merits of (a) introducing a right to request an assessor with appropriate knowledge of a claimant’s condition, and (b) the potential impact such an assessor would have on the number of claimants requiring mandatory reconsideration and tribunal.

The Health and Disability Green Paper published last year explores how the benefits system can better meet the needs of disabled people and people with health conditions, including how we could improve assessments to better understand the impact of a person’s condition on their ability to work or live independently. We will follow up on the responses to the Green Paper through a White Paper that we will publish later this year.