Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of staff carrying out assessments for personal independence payments have received training in the assessment of mental health conditions and the effect of such conditions on applicants.

Health Care Professionals (HCPs) undertaking PIP assessments must have at least 2 years post full registration experience (this refers to either UK registration or equivalent overseas registration for non-UK HCPs) or less than 2 years post full registration experience by individual, prior, written agreement with the Department. Requests by providers to employ Health Care Professionals with less than 2 years post full registration experience are rare and exceptional.

All HCPs receive training on how to identify the impact of mental health conditions on claimants. This is followed by on-going professional training and support which continues for the duration of their employment in the role.

In addition, Mental Health Champions support HCPs by providing additional expertise about mental health, cognitive, developmental and learning disabilities and can be referred to at any time during the assessment process.

HCPs make every attempt to obtain the best evidence available to assist them in undertaking the assessment. This includes accessing evidence from Community Mental Health Teams, psychologists, psychiatrists and other medical professionals. Health Assessment Providers frequently engage with medical experts, charities and relevant stakeholders to strengthen, review and update training programmes for all their assessment staff.