Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what formal, mandatory safeguard mechanisms exist within the Personal Independence Payment Transform Decision Making pilot to require a non-clinical departmental case manager to refer a case back to a healthcare professional for clinical advice before selecting a lower-scoring descriptor than the raw evidence implies for a claimant with a learning disability.

Transformed decision making aims to rebalance the way Personal Independence Payment entitlement decisions are made by refocusing Healthcare Professionals (HCPs) on providing clear, factual evidence, while reinforcing the role of DWP Case Managers to make the final decision using all available evidence.

Healthcare Professionals will focus on assessing and recording clear, factual evidence about the functional impacts of a customer’s health condition or disability. They will no longer provide views on descriptor selection or award length.

The transformed decision making (TDM) approach does not represent a fundamental change to accountability for decisions. PIP case managers have always made the decision about a customer’s entitlement to PIP. Healthcare Professionals continue to provide clinical input and carry out functional assessments. They have a responsibility to safeguard customers, are trained to level 3 in both adult and child safeguarding, and will continue this approach in TDM.

Case Managers have the ability to seek further advice and clarification from Healthcare Professionals, if needed, before making a final decision.