Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 26 June (HL888), how the existing quality assurance process for the Transform Decision Making pilot measures the accuracy of case managers' descriptor selections for claimants with a learning disability compared to those with purely physical impairments.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP has a number of quality assurance processes in place to support decision accuracy; these include local quality checks, independent assurance activity and formal fraud and error measurement. Together, these processes provide assurance that descriptor choices are accurate and consistent.
As part of the pilot Case Managers complete an initial assurance process following their training. During this period, decisions are subject to 100% checking before they are issued to customers. These checks focus on the accuracy of the descriptor selection and whether the resulting award is financially correct. Case Managers receive feedback on the outcome of each check and where errors are identified, may receive further coaching or support. The results of the assurance activity are monitored to identify trends and inform continuous improvement, including targeted guidance and support where required.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 26 June (HL888), what plans they have to introduce accredited training specifically addressing masking, verbal compliance, and executive dysfunction in claimants with a learning disability for case managers operating the Transform Decision Making pilot.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through the trial we will continue to conduct user research with Case Managers to refine processes, guidance and learning requirements, helping to ensure Case Managers are equipped to make quality decisions under all circumstances. Insights from the trial will help inform whether any changes are needed to the learning offer under the transformed decision making approach.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 26 June (HL886), what estimate they have made of the proportion of Personal Independence Payment claims processed under the Transform Decision Making pilot where a learning disability is recorded as a secondary condition; and what steps they are taking to ensure the impacts on claimants with co-occurring neurodivergent conditions are accurately tracked.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
In cases where a claimant has multiple conditions or disabilities that affect daily living or mobility, all are considered during the assessment and decision making process. However, only the primary condition is recorded on the data that DWP uses to report disabling conditions. We cannot, therefore, provide information on the proportion of PIP claims processed within the trial where a learning disability is recorded as a secondary or co-occurring condition. Our impact evaluation will also be limited to primary disabling condition. Due to the small scale of the trial and volume of cases involved, we do not expect to be able to produce robust subgroup analysis for claimants whose primary disabling condition is a learning disability.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 26 June (HL886), what specific qualitative evaluation methods are being deployed to guarantee that claimants with learning disabilities in the Transform Decision Making pilot are not systematically disadvantaged before any further expansion of the pilot.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Through our impact evaluation of the pilot, we will be exploring, where possible, whether there are differential outcomes by primary disabling condition. We do not anticipate being able to identify impacts specifically on claimants with learning disabilities due to the small scale of the trial and low volume of these cases involved.
In addition to the impact evaluation, we are undertaking research with provider and DWP staff. This is to understand their experiences of undertaking assessments and making decisions under the changed approach. Our qualitative evaluation methods will include observations and interviews. We are not undertaking any specific qualitative evaluation activity with claimants with learning disabilities during this trial. We will continue to monitor decision making quality throughout the trial through established quality assurance processes.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many Jobcentre Plus work coaches have received dedicated specialist training in supporting individuals with learning disabilities; and what percentage of the total number of work coaches this figure represents.
Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department is committed to ensuring Jobcentre Plus work coaches are equipped to support disabled customers, including people with learning disabilities. Through the Strategic Relationship Team Learning Disability Project, DWP has developed new learning products to improve understanding of learning disability and support effective service delivery. These have been co-designed with national learning disability organisations, including BASE and Mencap amongst others, and peer reviewed by people with a learning disability.
This specialist learning is currently being rolled out, and we are exploring ways to ensure it becomes embedded within relevant learning pathways. Due to this we do not currently hold uptake data at work coach level and are therefore unable to provide the number of work coaches who have completed this training, or the percentage of the total work coach workforce this represents.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what formal, mandatory safeguard mechanisms exist within the Personal Independence Payment Transform Decision Making pilot to require a non-clinical departmental case manager to refer a case back to a healthcare professional for clinical advice before selecting a lower-scoring descriptor than the raw evidence implies for a claimant with a learning disability.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Transformed decision making aims to rebalance the way Personal Independence Payment entitlement decisions are made by refocusing Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) on providing clear, factual evidence, while reinforcing the role of DWP Case Managers to make the final decision using all available evidence.
Healthcare Professionals will focus on assessing and recording clear, factual evidence about the functional impacts of a customer’s health condition or disability. They will no longer provide views on descriptor selection or award length.
The transformed decision making (TDM) approach does not represent a fundamental change to accountability for decisions. PIP case managers have always made the decision about a customer’s entitlement to PIP. Healthcare Professionals continue to provide clinical input and carry out functional assessments. They have a responsibility to safeguard customers, are trained to level 3 in both adult and child safeguarding, and will continue this approach in TDM.
Case Managers have the ability to seek further advice and clarification from Healthcare Professionals, if needed, before making a final decision.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what specific, accredited training is provided to departmental case managers operating the Personal Independence Payment Transform Decision Making pilot to help them identify (1) masking, (2) verbal compliance, and (3) executive dysfunction, within written functional assessment reports for claimants with learning disabilities; and how they audit the accuracy of case managers' descriptor selections for cognitive impairments compared to physical impairments.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Transformed decision making aims to rebalance the decision making process by refocusing Healthcare Professionals on providing clear, factual evidence, while reinforcing the role of DWP Case Managers to make the final decision using all available evidence.
Healthcare Professionals will focus on assessing and recording clear, factual evidence about the functional impacts of a customer’s health condition or disability. They will no longer provide views on descriptor selection or award length.
All Personal Independence Payment (PIP) case managers receive non-accredited mandatory learning, enabling them to support customers with a broad range of health, disability and additional needs. Masking, verbal compliance and executive dysfunction are not explicitly referenced. However, the learning equips case managers to determine appropriate actions, avoid making assumptions, and explain the reasonable adjustments, support and signposting options DWP can offer for a broad range of additional needs.
The Quality Assurance process deployed by colleagues to check decision accuracy is consistent with the approach already used by PIP case managers.
We are testing the transformed decision making approach at small scale and will evaluate the impacts as the trial progresses.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims processed under the Transform Decision Making pilot involve claimants with a learning disability as their primary or secondary disabling condition; and how (1) the initial award rates, (2) award levels, and (3) mandatory reconsideration rates, for those claimants compare to non-learning disabled claimants with the same conditions processed under the standard PIP assessment route.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
DWP is running a small-scale trial of a transformed decision making approach within the Health Transformation Programme's new Health Assessment Service, and we will evaluate the impacts.
The initial phase of testing involved around 1% of PIP assessments from 16 March 2026. From 1 June 2026, we began a second phase of testing with around 4% of PIP assessments nationally.
We cannot predict the mix of claimants by condition at this small scale but, over the year to April 2026, fewer than one per cent of all PIP clearances were for claimants with a learning disability as their primary disabling condition. While the trial will provide information on award rates, levels and mandatory reconsiderations, given the likely small number of claimants with a learning disability that would go through the trial, comparisons with those going through the standard assessment route are unlikely to be meaningful.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 4 February (HL14073), what technical reasonable adjustments, beyond "plain English" and dynamically built questions, are embedded in the digital interface to support claimants with learning disabilities; and in particular whether session timeouts have been extended.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
While Universal Credit is delivered as a digital first service, the Department recognises some customers need support to access or manage services online. Universal Credit is designed and built in line with accessibility standards and is regularly tested with users who have a range of access needs, including learning disabilities. Features such as step-by-step journeys, plain English and clear prompts are built-in to support understanding and reduce cognitive load.
Where customers have health conditions or learning disabilities, support is provided operationally through tailored help and reasonable adjustments. Any agreed adjustments are recorded on the customer’s account and reviewed regularly, ensuring support can be delivered consistently throughout the Universal Credit journey. These include telephone and face-to-face support, postal correspondence, home visits and support from an appointee or representative to act on the customer’s behalf if appropriate. The Department also offers the Help to Claim service, delivered by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland and provides enhanced support for vulnerable customers, including some moving from ESA.
In addition, regarding session time‑outs, there is a feature to give users the opportunity to extend the time for them to complete that stage. When making a claim there are many points where the data is autosaved, meaning that when a customer is timed out their information is mainly saved. Where session length or digital interaction presents a barrier, customers can be supported through assisted digital routes or non‑digital channels, tailored to their individual needs.
There is continued focus on accessibility and support, allowing customers to transact via a variety of channels according to their needs, including offering non‑digital routes, reasonable adjustments and tailored help for customers who may struggle with the claims process.
Asked by: Lord Scriven (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 4 February (HL14073), what is the average duration from initial contact to claim completion for claimants with a learning disability using (1) the digital service, and (2) the telephone or home-visit alternative service.
Answered by Baroness Sherlock - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claims are not awarded/paid until the end of the monthly assessment period, in order that an accurate assessment can be made, including any income/earnings received during that period. Therefore, there is no measure of claim completion prior to the end of the assessment period.
‘Payment Timeliness’ data, shows those claimants who are paid on time at the end of the first assessment period; however, this is not segregated by claimant characteristics or channel.
The latest published statistics for ‘Payment Timeliness’ are from October 2025, showing 93% received their payment on time and 88% their payment on time and in full.
Universal Credit is primarily a digital service, but there is a continued focus on accessibility and support, allowing claimants to transact via a variety of channels according to their needs, offering non‑digital routes. This includes making a claim by telephone or face-to-face and where appropriate, home visits may also be considered.
Independent support is also available through the Help to Claim service, delivered by Citizens Advice and Citizens Advice Scotland. For customers identified as vulnerable, including some customers with learning difficulties, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) also has an Enhanced Support Journey for those migrating from Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) who may need additional help to make and complete their claim.
Where a customer is unable to manage their own affairs, DWP can appoint a suitable individual, third party, or organisation to act on the customer’s behalf and manage their Universal Credit claim. This arrangement can be short or long‑term, depending on the customer’s circumstances.
The Department is committed to ensuring customers are supported in a way that meets their individual needs and DWP staff are required to discuss and review accessibility needs at every interaction, as reasonable adjustment needs can change over time.