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DWP Easy Read Report about ESA and PIP Assessments
Sam_Alumni
Scope alumni Posts: 7,731 Disability Gamechanger
This article is shared from Disability Sheffield:
Following our earlier news article detailing how ESA and PIP assessments would now be recorded,the Department for Work and Pensions has published an Easy Read version of the government’s reply to the House of Commons Committee of Members of Parliament (MPs) who have been looking into how Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) are assessed. Documents written in an Easy Read format are written in a way that makes them more accessible to people with learning disabilities.
The easy read report includes:-
The easy read report includes:-
- PIP explained
- ESA explained
- What the MPs said
- Things to improve before assessments take place
- Things to change about assessments
- How assessment companies work
Scope
Senior online community officer
Senior online community officer
Replies
You only have to read through the other two independent reports into how PIP was working to realise that the government's stance is to agree something needs doing but in reality it never happens.
Let's be honest if the government are forced to hold our hands and offer quality advice on evidence and allow us to take charge of assessments by having them at home for anybody that wants it the end result will be an increase in the number of claimants being awarded higher rates thus costing more money.
Since when has a government actually set out information in one place on a range of benefits that could be claimed with the offer of helping claimants claim them?
The only time that has happened was for Pension Credit. The government not only spent millions on adverts, TV & newspapers, but actually paid the benefit for 6 months to those they thought were entitled to it in the hope that after those 6 months they would put a claim in to continue to receive it. Once a claim was made it was automatically backdated as far back as 12 months!
They cut the backdating to 3 months and refused to advertise the benefit.
Result - the government readily now accepts that £2.8bn every year is not being claimed by pensioners who are in financial difficulties.
I cannot see the government reversing this type of policy for DLA or ESA.