Employment and Support Allowance

(asked on 23rd November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many Maximus CHDA assessment centres have recording equipment available for use by employment support allowance claimants undergoing assessments; what the average number of recording units available is in each assessment centre; and what the cost per unit is of those recording units.


Answered by
Sarah Newton Portrait
Sarah Newton
This question was answered on 1st December 2017

Centre for Health and Disability Assessments currently have135 recording devices available to Assessment Centres as required. Not all Assessment Centres currently hold recording equipment permanently on site as the demand to record assessments is currently low. In October 2017 less than 1% of claimants asked to have their assessment recorded. Despite the very low number of requests, DWP is still making this service available.

Claimants are required to notify Centre for Health and Disability Assessments in advance if they want their assessment recorded and Centre for Health and Disability Assessments will ensure that recording equipment is made available at the assessment centre, including transferring the equipment to sites if required. Since Centre for Health and Disability Assessments took over the contract to deliver Work Capability Assessments there has not been a need to purchase new recording units so an up-to-date cost estimate cannot be provided.

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