Assessment of entitlement to benefit does not depend on the condition itself, the underlying cause or how the condition is classified, but on the disabling effects of the condition(s) present.

The condition insight reports for Personal Independence Payment Health Professionals state that ME/CFS is classified as a neurological disorder; the guidance for CHDA Health Professionals who conduct Work Capability Assessments make no reference to the classification of ME/CFS.

The issue of classification for coding and statistical purposes has recently been brought to our attention. In light of this we are currently exploring moving ME/CFS from the musculoskeletal to neurological section for coding purposes.

As of 18^th March 2021 there have been over 15,000 applications received for Kickstart Scheme, we have approved over 150,000 jobs and over 6,000 young people have started their placements.

As of the 12^th March 2021, there had been over 900 unique gateway applications approved and over 1,200 unique employer bids accepted on the Kickstart Scheme.

Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency.