Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether claimants in the support group of Employment Support Allowance will be required to undergo a new Work Capability Assessment in the event that they make a claim for Universal Credit later than the deadline provided in their migration notice.

For claimants in the support group receiving Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), at the point they make a claim to UC, there is no requirement for a Work Capability Assessment (WCA) reassessment. The claimant will not be required to have another assessment in order to be awarded the health-related addition in UC.

Where an individual’s entitlement to ESA has stopped as a result of not making a claim to UC by the deadline date, any future claim to UC, after the last date legacy benefits were paid to the claimant, would be treated as a new claim. The claimant in these circumstances, as with any new claim to UC, would need a referral for a WCA to assess whether they have limited capability for work or limited capability for work- and work-related activity.