No more multiple benefit assessments for disabled people?

Jeremy Hunt told MPs that, for the six million disabled people in the UK, the benefits system was both "a lifeline and a nightmare".

The new bill would mean disabled people would only be asked questions once about their disability. Currently, disabled people can apply for up to 10 benefits and have to answer 1351 questions over 412 pages to apply for all of them, resulting in very low take-up.

Hunt said, "Disabled people are constantly frustrated, let down, and even humiliated by a system that asks them to repeat in writing their disability in a thousand different ways, that squanders money on official error, waste and fraud, and then singularly fails to reach those in the greatest need."

Introducing the Disability Benefits (Single Assessment) Bill, Mr Hunt said his proposals would "transform the lives" of thousands of disabled people.

The bill is due to receive its second reading in the commons on the 19th October.