Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 8 September 2016 to Question 44899, if he will make readily available the number of people who applied for attendance allowance under the special rules for people with terminal illness in each of the last five years (a) before and (b) during the consultation on the devolution of attendance allowance.

The consultation “Self-sufficient local government: 100% business rates retention” published by the Department for Communities and Local Government sought views on a range of options for devolving new responsibilities to local government including more responsibility for caring for older people.

The feedback from that consultation which closed on 26 September is currently being analysed and a response will be published in due course. The Government would undertake a further consultation, including any required impact assessment if any changes were to be proposed in relation to Attendance Allowance.

Information on claims awarded under the special rules for people with terminal illness is available from the DWP Tabulation Tool: http://tabulation-tool.dwp.gov.uk/100pc/tabtool.html.