In 2021-22 the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) spent £63.1 billion on a range of benefits to support people with a disability or health condition. This includes Personal Independence Payments, Employment and Support Allowance and certain Universal Credit payments.
DWP undertakes a health assessment of the claimant to decide on their eligibility for these benefits. In 2019, it announced plans to improve the way it manages the process of health assessments for disability and incapacity benefits, which it is implementing through its ‘Health Transformation Programme’.
DWP aims to make the health assessment process simpler, more user-friendly, easier to navigate and more joined-up for claimants, while delivering better value for money for taxpayers.
Based on an investigation by the National Audit Office on revising health assessments for disability benefits the Committee will question senior officials at DWP on:
- the rationale for the Health Transformation Programme, including the expected costs and benefits
- how the programme has developed to date
- what DWP is trying to change about the health assessments process through the programme
- whether it has the data it needs to understand baseline performance and measure success, and
- whether DWP is successfully managing the key risks to the programme
If you have evidence on these questions please submit it here by 23:59 on Thursday 22 June.
Please look at the requirements for written evidence submissions and note that the Committee cannot accept material as evidence that is published elsewhere.