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 effectiveness of the continence descriptor used as part of the personal independence assessment criteria for people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease; whether her Department plans to review the continence descriptor; and if she will make a statement.

With the exception of claims made under special rules for the terminally ill, the assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is focused on an individual’s functional needs arising from a long-term health condition or disability, not the health condition or disability itself. As health conditions or disabilities can affect different people to varying extents, the PIP assessment measures the impact of a person’s health condition on their ability to perform the relevant activities.

The PIP assessment criteria were developed in collaboration with independent specialists in health, social care & disability, including disabled people. The Department aims to continually improve the assessment process through customer insight, stakeholder engagement and qualitative research. We published ‘Shaping Future Support: The Health and Disability Green Paper’ in July 2021 and asked for views on how we might improve health assessments, including the scope of PIP activities and descriptors. Following the consultation which received 4,500 responses, detailed proposals will be brought forward in a White Paper later this year.