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Essential Tremor

Asked by Chris CoghlanLiberal DemocratDepartment of Health and Social CareTabled Answered 25 September 2025UIN 75087

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of recognising Essential Tremor as a disability.

Answered by Dr Zubir Ahmed

The Equality Act 2010 defines disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. The Act defines ‘long-term’ in this context as having lasted, or being likely to last for, at least 12 months, or likely to last for the rest of the life of the person.

This could cover individual people who have Essential Tremor, where the condition has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on their ability to do normal daily activities.

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