Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who applied for (a) employment and support allowance and (b) personal independence payments needed reasonable adjustments in order to make their claim in the last 12 months.

In relation to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

In relation to PIP, it is important that all of our claimants are able to access our services and that they do not face obstacles in applying and communicating with the Department and its providers. We have a variety of reasonable adjustments to make the claims process and communications easier for some of our most vulnerable customers and we offer a range of services to help claimants who have accessibility needs.

In relation to ESA, we offer a number of different ways for customers to make the claims that would negate the need of a customer needing a reasonable adjustment. They can make a claim online, by telephone or on a paper based form. The Alternative Format team can arrange for reasonable adjustments to be applied such as correspondence in braille.