Report from Work and Pensions Committee benefit assessments

Employment Support Allowance (ESA, introduced in 2008) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP, introduced in 2013) provide vital financial support to many people with muscle-wasting conditions. The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee has recently published a report on assessments for ESA and PIP.

What did the report say?

The report found that none of the contractors carrying out assessments have met their quality performance targets. Furthermore, claimants were reporting experiencing anxiety as a result of the assessment process and there were also examples of people who had experienced problems with their applications and assessments. The Committee found that the combination of these factors had resulted in a lack of trust on the part of claimants’ who were concerned that assessors would not record information accurately.

Recommendations of the Committee

The Committee’s report recommended that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP):

• Immediately institute recording of face-to-face assessment and provide a record and a copy of the assessors report to claimants;
• Take measures to improve understanding amongst health and social care professionals, and claimants, of what constitutes good evidence for PIP and ESA claims, and to ensure this evidence is used effectively by contractors;
• Set out how it will measure, monitor and report on the supply of evidence into PIP and ESA assessments;
• Improve accessibility of the process at every stage: from the format and style of the application form, to information about home visits, to information about accessing  reconsideration and appeal.

What does Muscular Dystrophy UK think?

We welcome the Work and Pensions Committee report. However, we would add that:

• The DWP should assess the impact of the ’20-metre rule’ in the mobility component of PIP and return this to 50 metres;
• The DWP and Atos and Capita should ensure that assessors are adequately trained and have knowledge of progressive conditions such as muscular dystrophy
• The DWP and the Department of Health should work with medical centres to ensure that further medical information can be obtained by claimants for free, right from the first PIP assessment.

We hope that the DWP listen to the report’s findings and make the necessary changes to the system to improve assessments so that people with muscle-wasting conditions are able to access the support they need.