The delivery of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Work Capability Assessments (WCA) is set to change for residents in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from next month. However, these changes will not affect those living in Scotland currently on PIP as they are due to transition from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to Adult Disability Payment (ADP) before the end of next year.

As per the Benefits and Work forum, WCAs are managed by Maximus while PIP assessments are handled by Atos (also known as IAS) and Capita, with Atos holding the majority of the PIP contracts. During last year’s contract bidding for regional assessments, the DWP confirmed that the contracts would be active from 2024 to 2029.

Functional Assessment Services contracts are set to replace both PIP contracts and contracts to conduct WCAs for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Universal Credit. This means the same company will carry out both types of assessment in any given regional area.

• Read More: DWP Attendance Allowance rules claimants need to know or risk benefit being stopped
• Get all the latest money news and budgeting tips from Chronicle Live with our free newsletter

This is part of the Health Transformation programme which proposes a single assessment approach for all benefits that use a functional health assessment.

If you are due a PIP or WCA assessment from September, it will be conducted by the following company, reports the Daily Record.

• Scotland and North England: Maximus UK Services Limited (currently Atos)
• Midlands and Wales: Capita Business Services (currently Capita)
• South West England: Serco (currently Atos)
• South East England, London and East Anglia: Ingeus UK Limited (currently Atos)
• Northern Ireland: Capita Business Services (currently Capita)

Last year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) laid out its plan to transition to a new telephony platform by 2024, as well as to enhance the Video Assessment application. This proposed upgrade would enable recording of all disability health benefit consultations, yet this recommendation has not been implemented to date.

Should you have a Personal Independence Payment (PIP) review approaching in the coming months, it’s possible to request an audio recording, provided you notify the DWP before your consultation date.

A recently disclosed Freedom of Information (FOI) enquiry revealed that from the outset of the year until the end of June, about 1,192 (which is 1.4%) of PIP evaluations carried out by Capita were recorded. In the same vein, the DWP disclosed that IAS had audio-recorded 366 (equating to 0.17%) of PIP assessments during the same timeframe.

However, the DWP noted that the figures stem from internal management data produced by assessment providers, emphasizing: “This information is collected for internal use only and therefore has not been quality assured to Official Statistics Publication standards.”

Here are the numbers for PIP assessments that were audio-recorded from January to June, 2024:.

Capita

• January 2024 – 298 (1.20%)
• February 2024 – 322 (1.37%)
• March 2024 – 323 (1.40%)
• April 2024 – 358 (1.57%)
• May 2024 – 318 (1.42%)
• June 2024 – 293 (1.46%)
• Total – 1,912 (1.4%average)

IAS

• January 2024 – 48 (0.12%)
• February 2024 – 47 (0.13%)
• March 2024 – 41 (0.11%)
• April 2024 – 51 (0.14%)
• May 2024 – 99 (0.27%)
• June 2024 – 80 (0.22%)
• Total – 366 (0.17% average)

Moreover, just last month, the DWP confirmed a total of 500 PIP ‘light touch’ reviews, since August 2023, which did not necessitate an evaluation by a health professional.

Out of 521 PIP ‘light touch’ reviews performed, the DWP confirmed that 50897%were concluded without the need for a formal assessment. It is also notable to mention that merely three of these reviews resulted in changes to PIP entitlementswith two experiencing cuts and one being completely disallowed.

Earlier this year, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) signalled a significant change indicating that “most cases” of people at the conclusion of their 10-year Personal Independence Payment (PIP) award would not necessitate a face-to-face evaluation.

This shift comes after the roll-out of a new, concise PIP review document now issued to recipients of a ‘light-touch’ award, often given for periods ranging between five to ten years.

Story Saved

You can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.