DISABILITY BENEFITS ASSESSMENTS CARRIED OUT BY CAPITA

That this House notes with great concern repeated incidences of assessments for disability benefits being carried out by Capita which are inaccurate and unfit for purpose; further notes reports of cases in which seriously ill or disabled people have had benefits, to which they are entitled to cover the costs associated with their illness, removed after Capita produced an assessment which portrayed them as being much less severely ill than was actually the case; is extremely concerned that no mechanism exists to challenge inaccurate reports directly with Capita rather than by going through the lengthy and stressful Department for Work and Pensions mandatory reconsideration and appeals process; takes note of the very high success rate for personal independence payment (PIP) claimants who go through this appeals process; observes that this suggests problems exist within the assessment process; is further concerned that Capita is using assessors who are insufficiently trained, do not care about claimants' wellbeing or lack sufficient medical knowledge of individuals' conditions to produce an accurate report; is concerned that the assessment process does not take into account the vulnerabilities of people with very serious health conditions; supports the Government's decision to stop reassessing people with incurable or degenerative conditions for employment and support allowance; and urges them to look into the current PIP assessment process to decide whether it is fit for purpose and if the companies carrying it out are able to do so competently and without causing additional distress.