Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the impact on trends in the level of employment of delays to orthopaedic surgery.

We are interpreting the question to ask what assessment has been made of the impact on levels of employment due to delays in orthopaedic surgery.

No assessment has been made by DWP.

Musculoskeletal conditions remain one of the most common conditions amongst those that are economically inactive due to long term sickness.

The Government has a range of initiatives supporting disabled people, and people with health conditions, including those economically inactive due to long term sickness, to start, stay and succeed in work.

We are currently working across Government, the health system and with employers, to tackle rising inactivity, building on the Government’s existing package of support.