Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Sherlock on 9 May (HL6877), how they monitor and evaluate whether PIP assessors are appropriately applying the reliability criteria in cases involving fluctuating or invisible conditions; and how many cases have been overturned at the mandatory reconsideration or tribunal stages due to a failure to consider these criteria correctly by assessors.

DWP has set standards for the quality of assessments for all health professionals (HPs) conducting Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments on behalf of the department. The department closely monitors all aspects of the process including how HPs apply the criteria set out in legislation.

PIP assessments are conducted by fully qualified, clinical professionals (Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Pharmacists) who have undergone a comprehensive training programme designed and approved by DWP. The quality of their advice is continually assured internally by the assessment suppliers and externally by the department's independent audit function.

Audit refers to a comprehensive check of the elements of the assessment, including the evidence collection, further evidence provided and the completion of the assessment report by the HP. The check is completed against a set of guidelines which ensures the criteria is applied appropriately and that a consistent approach is taken in all cases, including those involving fluctuating or invisible conditions. This ensures that assessment reports are fit for purpose, clinically justified and sound, and provide sufficient information for the department to make an informed decision on entitlement to benefit.

The department does not hold data on cases overturned at mandatory reconsideration or tribunal stages due to a failure by assessors to correctly consider reliability criteria in cases involving fluctuating or invisible conditions.

The recent Pathways to Work Green Paper has proposed that assessments should, in future, be recorded by default. It is hoped that this will give new opportunities to establish what has gone wrong when assessments are subsequently found to be incorrect, including when the fault has been a failure to assess correctly the impact of a fluctuating condition.