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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they intend to
take to improve the outcome of Personal Independence Payment
assessments in the light of the increasing number of
successful appeals.
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(Con)
My Lords, we want assessments for PIP to be right first time,
every time. This would certainly negate the need for appeals.
You might say that this is a tall order, but that is what we
must go for. Of the 3 million decisions made since the
personal independence payment was introduced, 9% of all
decisions have been appealed and 4% of all decisions have
been successfully appealed. We are determined to continue
learning and making improvements to ensure that decisions are
right first time. For example, we introduced 150 presenting
officers who provide valuable feedback from tribunals, and we
intend to make video recording of PIP assessment a standard
part of the process.
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(LD)
My Lords, I am grateful to the Minister for that reply, but
the latest statistics show that nearly two-thirds of initial
decisions are overturned by appeals, which are very
stressful, not to say very expensive. Therefore, either the
process is flawed or the assessors are not good enough—both,
probably. Will she agree to hold a meeting with stakeholders
from relevant charities to discuss the way forward?
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I completely understand the stress that people have to go
through in an appeal. I heard somebody say last week that
they were dreading their PIP reassessment. That is clearly
unacceptable, but we are working all the time to improve the
assessments to ensure that the assessors are up to the job.
It is often in collecting the evidence and information at the
final-stage appeal that material comes forward that has an
impact on the outcome of the appeal. We have to make sure
that information is available sooner rather than later.
In preparing for the Question, I also discussed health
professionals being written to for clarification on matters
during the appeal process. Large numbers of them do not
respond, which is most unhelpful. I cannot give you numbers,
but it is certainly something that I will take further with
officials. The noble Baroness will know that I will meet
anybody, but I am afraid that the Minister for Disabled
People has got there before us and is committed to hosting a
session where she and officials will take the Disability
Charities Consortium through how we can improve and increase
satisfaction in the process. I suggest that the noble
Baroness makes sure that she has a seat at that table.
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(Lab)
My Lords, we know that the current PIP and ESA contracts are
drawing to a close. In both cases, the decision to contract
out was driven by a perceived need to introduce efficient,
consistent and objective tests for benefit eligibility. Given
that none of the providers has ever hit the quality
performance targets required and that many claimants
experience a great deal of anxiety during the process, is it
not time to consider whether the market is capable of
delivering assessments at the required level and of
rebuilding claimant trust? Does the Minister not think that
these assessments are better delivered in-house? For how much
longer can we allow the system to fail sick and disabled
people?
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The noble Lord raises very valid points; he is right to raise
them. Extending the contracts does not mean accepting past
poor performance—in fact, the DWP Select Committee accepted
the extensions as the correct thing to do—but there is a need
for stability to support continued improvement. Just to
disband those contracts would certainly not give us that
stability. We have to work with suppliers to ensure that they
build on progress during any extension. We are looking at a
two-year extension, which, if I have understood it correctly,
will give the department time to look at the possibility of
an in-house service.
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(Con)
My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for saying
that improved performance is important. Does she agree that
it is quite difficult for non-disabled people who do not have
direct experience of living with a disability to fully
appreciate the challenges that can come with it? I would be
grateful if she would write to me to say how many PIP
assessors are disabled and what plans her department has to
increase their number.
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That is a very important question and a good point to raise.
I do not know how many assessors are disabled, so I will find
out and write to my noble friend. I can say that the
assessors are recruited because of their competence in
identifying people’s needs with the conditions they have. All
of us pay tribute to people who have to live with their
conditions; I sometimes have no idea what it must be like to
live with those conditions.
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The Lord
My Lords, personal independence payments make a significant
difference to those living with mental health difficulties.
Sadly, Mind found that only 8% of the 800 it surveyed felt
that the assessor understood their mental health and 90% felt
that the claims process itself had a negative impact on their
well-being. Will Her Majesty’s Government require assessment
providers to ensure that they hire more assessors with proper
experience of working with people with mental health issues,
and audit the quality of the mental health training?
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I will certainly pass on the point that the right reverend
Prelate raises in relation to assessors having an
understanding, directly or indirectly, of mental health
issues. On DLA, 6% of recipients received the top rate, while
with PIP that has gone to 30%. The issue of mental health is
on everybody’s agenda and we are doing more to help people
get the support that they need.
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(LD)
My Lords, I am grateful for the Minister’s response on the
introduction of recording of interviews. When is that planned
to start? A number of people have asked if they can record
their own assessments and have been told recently that they
may not do so, which means that the power is very much in the
hands of the assessor. We know that many appeals happen
because people have been misrepresented in the written
assessment reports, which has resulted in successful appeals.
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My understanding is that pilots of recording will start in
the summer. We are trying to make sure that we encourage
companions to attend and participate at the assessment—you
have somebody with you at the appeal, and we want to make
sure that they are there sooner. The facility for verbal
recording exists now and there is a pilot to do video
recording, so that the whole thing is on record.
