Three key changes the DWP’s own research shows should be made to health and disability benefit assessments

Last week was an important one for those working on social security policy. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published around thirty papers that hadn’t been released by the previous government. These papers cover a range of topics, including people’s experiences with the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments, as well as the barriers and hesitancy people face to claiming Universal Credit (UC). 

While the papers contain a range of insights and recommendations, they offer strong evidence supporting three key reforms to health and disability benefit assessments that Money and Mental Health has long advocated for – and that would significantly improve the assessment experience for people with mental health problems. It’s imperative that the government takes action in response to these findings.

Members of our Research Community – a network of thousands with lived experience of mental health problems – consistently tell us that health and disability benefit assessments fail to reflect the fluctuating nature of their conditions. We were therefore encouraged to see recognition of this issue in the recently published paper The Impact of Fluctuating Health Conditions on Assessment. 

This paper suggested questions asked in the application and assessment should better identify fluctuating conditions; and called for assessors to be better equipped to understand their impact. These recommendations align with our long-standing call for the DWP to increase awareness and understanding of mental health issues by training staff in interview techniques that help people explain the fluctuating nature of their condition.

Seven in ten (71%) members of our Research Community said their assessor did not understand how their mental health problems affected them. This has created an atmosphere of mistrust in the assessment process, which can make it even harder for a person experiencing a mental health problem to self advocate.

We therefore welcome the publication of the paper Specialism in the Health Assessment: Initial Exploratory Research, which shows that having assessors with expertise in applicants’ conditions could help applicants feel understood, heard, and supported. 

At Money and Mental Health, we have long called for assessors to have specific knowledge and experience in mental health, ideally through professional experience in a mental health setting. This experience should be relevant to the person being assessed, and whether they have a Common Mental Disorder (CMD) or Severe Mental Illness (SMI).

Three-quarters (77%) of our Research Community members said they would have given more accurate answers during their Work Capability Assessment (WCA) if they had been allowed to see their assessment questions in advance.

Similarly, 71% of Personal Independence Payment (PIP) recipients agreed. This is echoed in the recently published Experiences of PIP applicants who received zero points at assessment paper. Participants noted that having more information about PIP entitlement and eligibility before the assessment would have helped them better understand what was required of them.

At Money and Mental Health, we’ve been working with the Health Transformation Programme to provide people with more pre-assessment information, and we would like to see this pre-assessment communication rolled out more widely. Giving people the best opportunity to prepare for their assessment and to be able to answer questions accurately would mean people with mental health problems are not disadvantaged in the assessment interview and would help assessors to make better-informed decisions.

So far what we’ve seen from this new government has been a lot of continued focus on how to support more people into work, most notably through their upcoming White Paper on the Plan to Get Britain Working. While this is an important goal, we hope the above research and other accompanying publications are a reminder that this is only one part of the role of the Department for Work and Pensions. Another part is about ensuring people can access the extra financial support they need due to the effects of their health conditions and disabilities. The above reforms are crucial in helping to achieve this.

It’s time for the government to go further than just publishing this new research and take action based on its findings.