Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

(asked on 26th March 2019) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 18 March 2019 to Question 232052 on Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations, if she will make an assessment of the average waiting time at assessment centres; and if she will make a statement.


Answered by
Justin Tomlinson Portrait
Justin Tomlinson
This question was answered on 3rd April 2019

In February 2019, the average waiting time at assessment centres for Work Capability Assessments, was 17.1 minutes. Although the Department does not monitor average waiting times at assessment centres for Personal Independence Payment, there are contractual targets in place for individuals to be seen within 30 minutes of their appointment time.

We set our Assessment Providers challenging targets and monitor performance closely. The requirements set out in the contract are demanding and the Department robustly performance manages the providers against those requirements. The Department has a full set of service level agreements setting out expectations for service delivery.

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