Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the effectiveness of Personal Independence Payments assessments for people with (i) moderate and (ii) fluctuating health conditions.

The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment looks at how a long-term health condition or disability impacts on daily life across 12 activities, taking into account fluctuations over a 12-month period. The activities are grouped into two components, daily living and mobility, and within each activity a descriptor must be chosen to score an individual depending on whether an individual can complete the activity, the manner in which they do it, and whether they can complete each activity safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period.

The assessment is designed to reflect the impact of variations in an individual's needs for all health conditions, not only those which more typically fluctuate. Health conditions may be physical, sensory, mental, intellectual or cognitive, or any combination of these, and the assessment is designed to take a comprehensive approach to disability, reflecting the needs arising from the full range of impairments.