welcomes Government development
of in-house PIP IT capacity: Atos and Capita on notice to “start
delivering, or else”
The DWP today announced in a written statement that it was
intending to extend Atos and Capita’s contracts to provide
Personal Independence Payment (PIP) functional assessments for a
further two years to “allow for a stable transition to any new
provision”, over which period it would develop in-house IT
capacity.
Rt Hon MP, Chair of the Work and
Pensions Committee, said:
“This is the most the Committee could have asked for at this
stage and is further credit to the thousands of disabled people
who sent evidence to us. The Government is making the important
first steps to enable it to get out of a hole of its own making.
Having the capacity to bring assessments back in house will put
it in a far stronger position to turn the screws on its hitherto
failing contractors, in the interests of claimants and all
taxpayers. This should serve as notice for Atos and Capita to
start delivering, or else.”
The Committee published its policy report on
PIP and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) assessments in
February 2018, which found “a pervasive culture of mistrust”
around assessment processes. The Committee also published
a report on claimant
experiences alongside it, setting out some of the
stories of the 4,000 claimants who made written submission to the
inquiry, an unprecedented public response to a departmental
committee.
DWP agrees to video recording of assessments as
standard
In its formal response to the
report, published in April 2018, the Government agreed to the
Committee’s key recommendation of recording PIP assessments as
standard. Today, it has announced that it will pilot video
recording with a view to making it a standard part of the
assessment process across Great Britain. This was a further
recommendation of the Committee.
With regards to contractors, the Committee concluded:
94. The PIP and ESA contracts are drawing to a close. In both
cases, the decision to contract out assessments in the first
instance was driven by a perceived need to introduce efficient,
consistent and objective tests for benefit eligibility. It is
hard to see how these objectives have been met. None of the
providers has ever hit the quality performance targets required
of them, and many claimants experience a great deal of anxiety
over assessments. The Department will need to consider whether
the market is capable of delivering assessments at the required
level and of rebuilding claimant trust. If it cannot—as already
floundering market interest may suggest—the Department may well
conclude assessments are better delivered in house.
With regard to recording of assessments, the
Committee concluded:
44. Successive evidence-based reviews conducted on behalf of the
Department have identified a pervasive culture of mistrust around
PIP and ESA processes. This culminates in fear of the
face-to-face assessments. This has implications far beyond the
minority of claimants who directly experience poor decision
making. It can add to claimant anxiety even among those for whom
the process works fairly. While that culture prevails, assessors
risk being viewed as, at best lacking in competence and at worst,
actively deceitful. Addressing this is a vital step in restoring
confidence in PIP and ESA. The case for improving trust through
implementing default audio recording of assessments has been
strongly made. We recommend the Department implement this measure
for both benefits without delay. In the longer term, the
Department should look to provide video recording for all
assessments.
ENDS
Notes:
Full information about the inquiry: PIP and ESA
Assessments
The Committee has written to DWP, Atos, Capita (and Maximus,
regarding ESA assessments) with questions regarding financial
incentives to “rush” assessments. That correspondence will
be published this week.
