Personal Independence Payment

(asked on 6th November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of long-term sick and disabled personal independence payment (PIP) claimants taking repeated PIP tests and assessments of the health and wellbeing of claimants; and what the cost to the public purse has been of such repeat tests and assessments since they were instituted.


Answered by
Sarah Newton Portrait
Sarah Newton
This question was answered on 15th November 2017

DWP and our Assessment Providers are committed to providing a quality, sensitive and respectful service by conducting fair, accurate and objective assessments, not all of which have to be carried out face-to-face where sufficient evidence exists. Where a face-to-face assessment is required claimants are given the opportunity to alert their Assessment Provider of any additional requirements they may have and the providers will meet any such reasonable requests. Claimants are also encouraged to bring someone with them to their consultation where they would find that helpful for example, to reassure them or to help them during the consultation. The PIP Assessment Guide, which is regularly updated, provides comprehensive guidance for Health Professionals regarding all aspects of the assessment process, including how health professionals conduct themselves during face-to-face consultations.

Awards of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be at one of eight possible rates of payment. Reviews of PIP are therefore a key part of the benefit and ensure that not only awards remain correct where needs may change but that we also maintain contact with the claimant, both features missing from its predecessor Disability Living Allowance. The length of an award is based on an individual’s circumstances and can vary from nine months to an on-going award with a light touch review at the ten year point. Award reviews can also be instigated where a claimant reports that their needs have improved or got worse. PIP already recognises that for the most severely disabled claimants, the award review process could seem unnecessarily intrusive. Existing PIP claimants with the most severe, lifetime disabilities, whose functional ability has remained the same, are more likely to have their evidence reviewed by a DWP Decision-Maker and will not need to have another face-to-face assessment with a healthcare professional.

We will continue to closely monitor developments across the health and disability landscape and engage with stakeholders to improve the service we provide. We are committed to ensuring that the PIP reassessment process works effectively across the spectrum of disabilities and health conditions, including mental health conditions, cognitive impairments and physical disabilities.

The Department has interpreted your costs request to mean the DWP costs associated with PIP award reviews. The yearly operating costs are shown in the table below:

2014/15

2015/16

2016/17

2017/18

PIP Award Reviews

£167,408

£1,867,455

£8,019,582

£5,958,376

Notes

The data above is shown in financial years (01st April – 31st March) with the exception of 2017/18 which is 01st April – 30th September

The costs associated with Award Reviews have risen each year due to the staged roll-out of the PIP benefit.

Source

Activity Based Management Model – L1 Operating Costs

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