The latest Work and Pensions Committee report, Monitoring the performance of the Department of Work Pensions in 2012-13, says the length of time disabled people are having to wait to find out if they are eligible for benefit is unacceptable.
The report recommends:
- monitoring the impact of the low level benefits uprating (currently 1.0%) on claimants.
- that the DWP take urgent action to improve PIP claim clearance times, as currently a new PIP claim can take 6 months to process as opposed to the expected 74 days.
- that the Government makes sufficient funding available for the Local Authority local welfare schemes,which have replaced parts of the Social Fund.
- that reporting of Government statistics should be ‘fair, accurate and “unspun” to avoid feeding into negative views against people who claim benefits, including disabled people.
“Government efforts to promote a positive image of disabled people will be undermined if the language used by DWP when communicating benefit statistics to the media feeds into negative perceptions and prejudices about benefit recipients, including disabled people.”
Disability Rights UK hears regularly from people who are experiencing major difficulties because of delays in assessments: going into debt, being unable to get out, worrying about relatives and more. We propose ending the reassessment programme for DLA claimants until claims are processed on time for new claimants.
You can view the report at http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/work-and-pensions-committee/news/dwp-monitoring-report/