Recommendation 8

Face-to-face, in person assessments were the main form of assessment for Personal Independence Payment and Employment and Support Allowance/Universal Credit before the pandemic, despite widespread agreement amongst claimants and the organisations that support them that they are frequently unnecessarily stressful and poorly suited to measuring the impact of some health conditions. The pandemic forced the Department’s hand in making greater use of other formats, and feedback from stakeholders has been broadly positive. One size does not fit all, however: what matters in reducing the stress associated with assessment is choice. We recommend that the Department build on its successes introducing video and telephone assessments during the pandemic. In particular, now it knows that remote assessments are possible on a large scale, that it completes its evaluation as soon as possible and commits to informing claimants of the options available and allowing them to choose what suits them best before booking an assessment. (Paragraph 42) Technical and operational challenges