Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the accessibility of the assessment process for (a) Personal Independence Payments and (b) other disability benefits for people with (i) brain injury and (ii) neurological conditions.

We take our responsibility to ensure all individuals have access to our services without disadvantage, very seriously. We have a range of provisions in place to ensure assessments are accessible to all individuals, including those with brain injury and neurological conditions, in line with the standards under the Equality Act 2010.

Health assessments are designed to treat all individuals with health conditions and impairments fairly. The assessment criteria take account of the impact of all impairments on an individual’s ability to carry out a broad range of everyday activities.

As part of the functional health assessment process, the feasibility of a paper-based assessment will always be considered in the first instance for all cases. Health professionals (HPs) may contact GPs, any named specialist medical professionals or the claimant if they need more information to undertake a paper-based review. In the circumstances that a paper-based review is not possible the claimant will be invited to an assessment. Before an invitation to assessment is sent, consideration will be given to claimants who need a specific assessment channel due to their health condition or circumstances.

Companions are encouraged to attend and can play an active role during the assessment. This is helpful for claimants with mental, cognitive, or intellectual impairments who may not be able to provide an accurate account of their condition, due to a lack of understanding or unrealistic expectations of their ability. Companions can join the telephony assessment, as they would have for a face-to-face assessment. All assessment suppliers have introduced the capacity for four-way calls for assessments. This means the claimant and the HP can be joined by a companion or advocate as well as an interpreter if required. This gives claimants the opportunity to have the appropriate support during a remote assessment.