Chris Elmore – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Chris Elmore on 2016-07-12.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he has taken to ensure consistency in the length of intervals between awards of personal independence payments.
Penny Mordaunt
The assessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is designed to treat people as individuals, considering the impact of their impairment or health condition on their everyday life and how each claimant has personally adapted to living with a disability. The length of an award for PIP is based on the needs of the individual claimant and whether these are likely to change in the future, as a result, for example, of treatment or changes in their health condition.
The Department monitors all aspects of the PIP application process including the performance of the assessment providers, Atos Healthcare and Capita. The reports of Health Professionals who carry out assessments are subject to quality audit, to ensure accurate advice on the best time to review a case based on a claimant’s individual circumstances.
The PIP Assessment Guide for Health Professionals carrying out assessments includes guidance on how to determine the length of an award – Section 2.9 Prognosis (page 54) and 2.10 Review dates (page 56).
This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:
There is also guidance and information for DWP decision makers on how best to establish the length of an award.
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