Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in employment and support allowance and personal independence payments on people with progressive conditions such as multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's.

Both Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) have been designed to take full account of progressive conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s.

Entitlement to both ESA and PIP is based on the impact of the claimant’s disability or health conditions. If a claimant has a progressive health condition, healthcare professionals will take this into consideration when providing advice to the Department.

Both ESA and PIP are kept under constant review: Dr Paul Litchfield is due to publish the fifth and final statutory review of the Work Capability Assessment before the end of the year and Paul Gray will be publishing the first PIP independent review by the end of the year.