Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what proportion of disability benefit claims his Department asks a claimant's doctor for medical evidence directly rather than seeking that evidence through the claimant.

The gathering of medical evidence is a key part of the claim process and the information is gathered from a range of sources. However, the information as requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.