Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that personal independence payment assessors understand autism and its effect on claimants’ lives.

The Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment is not a medical assessment requiring the assessor to diagnose a condition and recommend treatment options. The focus is on ensuring Health Professionals are experts in disability analysis, focusing on the effects of health conditions and impairments on a claimant’s daily life.

All Health Professionals undertaking PIP assessments must be registered practitioners who have also met requirements around training and competence. They must be an occupational therapist, level 1 nurse, physiotherapist, paramedic or doctor and must also be fully registered and have at least 2 years post full-registration experience, although this can be waived in exceptional circumstances by the Department.

All Health Professionals receive training on a wide range of conditions including autism as part of their initial new entrant training. This includes detailed modules covering all aspects of autism and learning disabilities, as well as simulated assessments to enable Health Professionals to understand how these conditions impacts on a person’s ability to undertake the activities in the PIP assessment. This is followed by on-going professional training and support which continues for the duration of their employment in the role.

Both Assessment Providers employ specialist practitioners who have clinical experience in either a mental health or learning disability role, who provide advice and support to Health Professionals on particular conditions including autism, and can be referred to at any point during the assessment process. In addition, the Assessment Providers engage with a range of stakeholders including the National Autistic Society, to strengthen, review and update their training programmes.