Recommendation 29

The Department has made, and continues to make, reforms to improve PIP assessment and WCA processes. But the pace of change has been extremely slow. The plans to scrap WCAs are significant and will require further scrutiny in the months and years to come. In the meantime, too many people claiming disability and health-related benefits, even those not directly affected by poor decision- making, continue to view the processes with great trepidation, and for a minority the experience of assessment can be devastating. The continuing high overturn rates at appeal suggest fundamental flaws in the assessment system. We recommend that while it develops its long-term plans to remove WCAs, DWP accelerates improvements to health assessments in the short-term. We have suggested some areas for change in this Report to start that process—recording of assessments and sharing reports to increase transparency are key, and these should be implemented without delay. (Paragraph 125) 94 Health assessments for benefits