Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have introduced a requirement for health professionals involved in the Personal Independence Payment assessment to confirm that they have referred to the reliability criteria when formulating their advice.

The guidance for health professionals undertaking assessments for Personal Independence Payment specifies that for a descriptor to be able to apply to a claimant, the claimant must be able to complete the activity reliably i.e. safely, to an acceptable standard, repeatedly and in a reasonable time period. For a report to be considered fully acceptable it must include confirmation that the health professional has fully considered these reliability criteria.