Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 7
7
Not Addressed
Paragraph: 38
Following our predecessor’s 2018 Report, the Government commissioned research into the impacts of health assessment...
Recommendation
Following our predecessor’s 2018 Report, the Government commissioned research into the impacts of health assessment questionnaires and is now feeding that learning into its policy development. We have also heard important insight from academics on the mental health impacts of assessments, but studies have been sporadic and rely on the data made available to them. As the Government reforms health assessments, quality research will be vital to measure success. The Government should commit to undertaking regular reviews of the mental health impacts of its end-to-end process of health assessments, including comparing them to assessments undertaken elsewhere in Government, such as social care. It should also ensure external researchers have access to good quality, anonymised data to complement this with independent research.
Government response summary AI-generated
The government's response focuses on the balance between providing sufficient time for claimants to return evidence and ensuring timely awards, particularly regarding the ESA50, UC50, and PIP2 forms; however, it does not commit to undertaking regular reviews of the mental health impacts of its end-to-end process of health assessments or ensuring external researchers have access to good quality, anonymised data.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Paragraph Reference:
38
Government Response
Not Addressed
HM Government · verbatim extract
Not Addressed
The Department’s assessments are not comparable to clinical assessments, because these focus on functional impairment, as set out in regulations. There are a range of ways in which government reviews health impacts, from the clinician in a health setting to a more metric or qualitative assessment in other settings. A direct comparison would not be feasible as there is not a like-for-like assessment. The Department does routinely carry out evaluations of policy changes, including many where external researchers are engaged. Methods used for each of these are designed to be appropriate to the specific type of intervention being evaluated. However, it would be extremely difficult to objectively separate the impact of the process on mental health from other confounding factors.
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