Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Acknowledged
Paragraph: 77
DWP provides assessors with guidance on issues including evidence use, contributions of family members and...
Recommendation
DWP provides assessors with guidance on issues including evidence use, contributions of family members and carers, and informal observations which, if correctly followed, would address many of the concerns raised in this area. The accounts we have heard in this inquiry, and those from the previous Committee’s Health assessments for benefits 91 inquiry, suggest that, too often, guidance is not followed correctly. We believe this points to fundamental weaknesses in the Department’s quality control over its contractors, which we return to later in this Report. We recommend the Department reviews the guidance on carers’ and family members’ evidence to assess why they may still not be being given due weight, and confirm what action it will take to ensure assessment providers are following it correctly. We also recommend the Government urgently investigate the use of covert surveillance by assessors, working with organisations that support claimants to establish whether this practice is widespread, and work with the assessment providers and contractors to ensure claimants are treated fairly and in line with the guidance.
Government Response Summary
The government describes Mandatory Reconsideration as a valuable process and is undertaking a number of small-scale internal learning exercises to better understand what it can learn from the disputes stage. This work is still in very early development.
Paragraph Reference:
77
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
Health assessments for benefits 13 recommendations for learning from Tribunal, and options for incorporating this into wider reform of health assessments. The Department should commission this work within three months of this Report. (Paragraph 92) The Department recognises that it is a fundamental principle of our legal and political system that citizens should be able to challenge decisions made by the government through the legal system. Mandatory Reconsideration is a valuable process that supports the resolution of disputes as early as possible, reducing unnecessary demand on HM Courts & Tribunals Service and encourages claimants to identify and provide additional evidence that may affect the decision, so that they can receive the correct decision at the earliest opportunity. The Department is undertaking a number of small-scale internal learning exercises to better understand what it can learn from the disputes stage. It is also working to improve feedback loops so that it can continue to learn from tribunals with a view to improving decision making across all stages of the claim journey. This includes improving feedback from DWP Presenting Officers following tribunal hearings so that the Department can look for further points of learning to feed into internal decision making and provider assessments. This work is still in very early development.