A new report from the National Audit Office (NAO) warns that Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) plans to simplify health assessments for disability benefits are at risk of being delayed, costing more than expected and not meeting their intended aims. The report suggests there are risks to the value for money of the Health Transformation Programme which need to be carefully managed.
The programme, launched in 2018 and expected to run until 2029, aims to simplify and make the assessment process more accessible for the 3.9 million working-age people who receive at least one of the principal disability benefits. The DWP has previously acknowledged that it is a ‘large, complex and agile programme’.
The NAO said the department “faces challenges to successfully delivering its approach to transforming the assessment services without further delay, cost overruns or scaling back its ambition”.
In a report published on Friday, the NAO said that the programme could be “an opportunity to substantially improve the cost, timeliness and accuracy of functional health assessments while improving the experience for claimants and increasing the trust they have in the system”.
But it added that change of such scale and complexity “is inherently at high risk of time and cost overruns and not achieving all the intended benefits”.
The NAO recommended the DWP reviews its plan and comes up with an updated business case, incorporating reforms set out in the March White Paper reforms.
The reforms, dubbed by the UK Government as shifting the focus to what people can do rather than what they cannot, involve the scrapping of the work capability assessment (WCA) for those claiming benefits including Universal Credit, leaving only the personal independence payment (PIP) or Adult Disability Payment (ADP).
The NAO also recommended the department tests and learns what is best for the new services between now and 2029, and sets out how the health assessment service will be benchmarked.
Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said: “While the programme is ambitious and has the potential to make savings and improve the experience of those being assessed, the scale and complexity of the transformation leaves it at high risk of delay, cost overruns, and of not achieving the intended benefits.
“Government should set out and publish a revised business case to improve transparency so that Parliament has a greater understanding of the programme and the challenges in implementing it.”
Public Accounts Committee chair Meg Hillier said: “Government knows it spends too long assessing whether people are eligible for disability benefits and that claimants often don’t trust its decisions.
“The Department for Work and Pensions launched the ambitious Health Transformation Programme in 2018 to improve the service.
“Today’s NAO report shows there have been several delays and the department still lacks the data to test what works.
“The department faces challenges we’ve seen many times before. It is essential that it learns the lessons from other programmes if it is to improve claimants’ experience and make the Government’s disability White Paper a reality.”
Disability equality charity Scope has warned the Government it must “make sure it doesn’t replace one out of touch test with another”.
Thomas Hamilton-Shaw, from the charity, said: “Now is the time the Government needs to make sure it addresses the pressing issues with this project. There is a lot riding on it.
“The scrapping of the Work Capability Assessment means there is more pressure to get the PIP assessment right.
“For far too long, disabled people have been faced with degrading and inaccurate benefits assessments. The Government must up its ambition, like it has done with introducing appropriate assessors into the process, and have the capacity to match the scale of the task at hand. There is much work to do to make sure it doesn’t replace one out of touch test with another.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “Our ambitious programme of change will deliver improvements to the cost, timeliness and accuracy of assessments, while helping remove existing barriers preventing claimants from trying work.
“We will continue to work closely with the NAO and engage with stakeholders throughout the process to ensure we are delivering to the highest possible standard for claimants.”
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