Firms assessing disabled for benefits either lying or incompetent, MPs warn
A “pervasive lack of trust” among disabled people in the method of assessing their welfare claims risks undermining the operation of the Government’s flagship benefits, MPs have warned.
Since 2013, 290,000 rejected claims for Personal Independence Payments or Employment and Support Allowance have been granted on appeal - a total of 6% of all those assessed.
The Department for Work and Pensions has spent “hundreds of millions of pounds” of taxpayers’ money over that period checking and defending decisions made on the basis of reports by private contractors, said a report by a cross-party committee.
The House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee said there was evidence that the companies carrying out assessments - Atos, Capita and Maximus - have produced reports “riddled with errors and omissions”.
Assessors were viewed as “at best lacking in competence and at worst actively deceitful”, while many claimants reported experiencing “a great deal of anxiety and other deleterious health impacts”.
One claimant was said in her assessment report to walk her dog, despite not owning one and being barely able to walk at all.Another, who remained in bed throughout her interview at home, was reported to have risen from a chair “without any difficulty” even though the only chair in the room was the one the assessor was sitting in.
Committee chairman Frank Field said shortcomings in the system were causing “untenable human costs to claimants and financial costs to the public purse”.
And he said: “No-one should have any doubt the process needs urgent change.”
All face-to-face assessments should be recorded and a copy sent to the claimant along with the assessor’s report, not just the notification of the department’s decision which they currently receive, said the report.
Figures obtained by the Press Association through a Freedom of Information request show DWP has spent £108.1 million on direct staffing costs for ESA and PIP appeals since October 2015.
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A DWP spokesman said: “As the Work and Pensions Select Committee highlights, assessments work for the majority of people, with 83% of ESA claimants and 76% of PIP claimants telling us that they’re happy with their overall experience.
“However, our aim has to be that every person feels they are treated fairly, with respect and dignity.”
The spokesman said DWP had already accepted more than 100 recommendations from five independent reviews of the Work Capability Assessment and commissioned two independent reviews of PIP assessments.
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