Privately-run disability benefit assessments will temporarily stop as part of a new trial of a 'combined' testing system. A yet-to-be-identified region of Britain will become the testing ground next year for a system that combines the assessments for PIP and ESA. Currently PIP and ESA involve two completely different testing systems run by private firms Maximus, Atos and Capita - despite an overlap between the two benefits. Today the Department for Work and Pensions announced it will designate an area of the country a "Transformation Area" where the tests are combined for the first time. As part of the experiment, which begins in Autumn 2021, the assessments will be taken back in-house and effectively run by the state, not private firms. However, multi-million pound private contracts will still be issued in all other areas from August 2021 when the existing deals - which have lasted seven years - finally run out. Read More Related Articles DWP quietly hands private firms £600m extra to test disabled people for benefits Read More Related Articles Coronavirus: Poor zero-hour workers 'will be forced' to choose between isolation and food That is likely to anger critics of the government who say all benefit assessments should be taken back in-house, not just those that are part of the trial. What's more, ministers have signalled the private firms are likely to regain a role in running the new combined system once it is up and running. Minister Justin Tomlinson told the Commons: "We will work with the successful providers to ensure continuous improvement in their service, including how developments in the Transformation Area can benefit delivery by contracted providers." (IAS) through a contract it has held since 2013. Capita also has a PIP assessments contract. Read More DWP and benefits news ESA assessments have been delivered since October 2014 by a firm called The Centre for Health and Disability Assessments Ltd (CHDA) - whose parent corporation is US outsourcing giant Maximus. The contracts have repeatedly been extended, pouring hundreds of millions of pounds more into the firms' coffers, despite well over half of appeal tribunals ruling against the government. Mr Tomlinson said the combined system will allow better ways of carrying out assessments; "triaging" so only those who truly need a face-to-face assessment have one; and remove the need for people to provide the same information twice. But with Universal Credit being repeatedly delayed and bedevilled by teething problems, critics have questioned if a combined system can really be made to work.
Privately-run DWP benefit tests will temporarily stop in new 'combined' trial
Privately-run disability benefit assessments will temporarily stop as part of a new trial of a 'combined' testing system. A yet-to-be-identified region of Britain will become the testing ground next year for a system that combines the assessments for PIP and ESA. Currently PIP and ESA involve two completely different testing systems run by private firms Maximus, Atos and Capita - despite an overlap between the two benefits. Today the Department for Work and Pensions announced it will designate an area of the country a "Transformation Area" where the tests are combined for the first time. As part of the experiment, which begins in Autumn 2021, the assessments will be taken back in-house and effectively run by the state, not private firms. However, multi-million pound private contracts will still be issued in all other areas from August 2021 when the existing deals - which have lasted seven years - finally run out. Read More Related Articles DWP quietly hands private firms £600m extra to test disabled people for benefits Read More Related Articles Coronavirus: Poor zero-hour workers 'will be forced' to choose between isolation and food That is likely to anger critics of the government who say all benefit assessments should be taken back in-house, not just those that are part of the trial. What's more, ministers have signalled the private firms are likely to regain a role in running the new combined system once it is up and running. Minister Justin Tomlinson told the Commons: "We will work with the successful providers to ensure continuous improvement in their service, including how developments in the Transformation Area can benefit delivery by contracted providers." (IAS) through a contract it has held since 2013. Capita also has a PIP assessments contract. Read More DWP and benefits news ESA assessments have been delivered since October 2014 by a firm called The Centre for Health and Disability Assessments Ltd (CHDA) - whose parent corporation is US outsourcing giant Maximus. The contracts have repeatedly been extended, pouring hundreds of millions of pounds more into the firms' coffers, despite well over half of appeal tribunals ruling against the government. Mr Tomlinson said the combined system will allow better ways of carrying out assessments; "triaging" so only those who truly need a face-to-face assessment have one; and remove the need for people to provide the same information twice. But with Universal Credit being repeatedly delayed and bedevilled by teething problems, critics have questioned if a combined system can really be made to work.
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