Maximus

Benefits and Poverty

June 21, 2018 0

‘Fit for work’ assessor suspended for describing examination that did not take place

An occupational therapist who carried out a “misleading” benefit assessment has been suspended for a year after regulators found she reported carrying out a physical examination of a disabled man that did not take place. Paru Vekaria has shown no remorse over the incident, in which she stated in a written report for government

Benefits and Poverty

Sarah Newton speaking in the House of Commons

May 10, 2018 0

DWP figures on ‘unacceptable’ WCA reports cast doubt on decisions made on tens of thousands of ESA claims

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Tens of thousands of “fitness for work” benefit claims could have been decided by civil servants on evidence from assessment reports that should have been rejected because their quality was “unacceptable”, government figures suggest. The concerns about the way Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decision-makers have decided employment and support allowance (ESA) claims

Benefits and Poverty

Philip Connolly speaking at a conference

April 26, 2018 0

DWP agrees to record PIP assessments but response to MPs’ report still ‘falls far short’

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The government has given a mixed response to a report by a committee of MPs that concluded that the disability benefit assessment system was being undermined by a “pervasive culture of mistrust”. Ministers have agreed in their response to make the recording of personal independence payment (PIP) assessments “a standard part of the process”,

Employment

April 12, 2018 0

Redundancy threat hangs over Remploy workers as DWP funding ends

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Disabled Remploy workers who are part of a supported employment programme could be at risk of losing their jobs because the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is set to refuse to renew a three-year funding agreement. The funding was awarded to Remploy in 2015 for its Interwork scheme, which was set up in

Employment

January 25, 2018 0

DWP refuses to name charities set to earn millions from new disability jobs scheme

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The Department for Work and Pensions has refused to name the charities and other organisations being paid millions of pounds to help deliver its new disability employment programme across England and Wales. All six of the new Work and Health Programme contracts went “live” last week, and DWP announced the main contractors in October.

Benefits and Poverty

Stephen Lloyd in front of a sign for the Liberal Democrat conference

January 4, 2018 0

More than one in eight rejected PIP claims are overturned, DWP figures reveal

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More than one in eight of all decisions to reject claims for personal independence payment (PIP) are eventually being overturned, new figures obtained by Disability News Service (DNS) have revealed. The figures* show that, of all the PIP claims rejected by Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decision-makers in the year to June 2017,

Benefits and Poverty

Four executives from Capita and Atos sit behind a table, with other people sat behind them

December 7, 2017 0

PIP assessment companies admit ‘unacceptable’ failings on quality of reports

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The two outsourcing companies paid hundreds of millions of pounds to carry out disability benefit assessments have never met contractual quality standards on the reports their staff write for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), they have told MPs. Capita and Atos began delivering assessments for the new personal independence payment (PIP) –

Benefits and Poverty

The four welfare rights expert giving evidence to the work and pensions committee

November 23, 2017 0

Benefit assessors ‘must be held accountable’ for report failings, MPs hear

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The healthcare professionals who carry out disability benefit assessments on behalf of the government should be held accountable for failing to report what they are told accurately, MPs have been told. Members of the Commons work and pensions select committee were told repeatedly this week that assessors working for the outsourcing giants Atos, Capita

Benefits and Poverty

October 5, 2017 0

MPs’ inquiry set to look at PIP assessment dishonesty claims

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MPs have launched an inquiry into why so many disability benefit decisions are being overturned on appeal, and look set to examine claims of widespread dishonesty among the healthcare professionals who carry out assessments on behalf of the government. The investigation by the Commons work and pensions select committee follows a previous inquiry into

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