Select Committee inquiry on DLA/PIP

12 July 2011

The Work and Pensions Select Committee have today issued an announcement about its inquiry into proposals to replace Disability Living Allowance (DLA) with Personal Independence Payment (PIP).

The inquiry will focus on the following issues:

• The need for DLA reform, including: how well understood DLA is; why the DLA caseload and expenditure has increased; the effectiveness of the decision-making and review process for DLA.
• The implications of a reduction in expenditure, including: the implications of focusing on those with the greatest needs; the likely impact of having only two rates of PIP in the ‘daily living’ component; the number of current DLA recipients who would not be eligible for PIP.
• The extent to which overlaps in funding exist, particularly with local authority and NHS funding, and including for people in residential care or hospital.
• Whether automatic entitlement should apply to people with some conditions or impairments and whether some people should receive awards for indefinite periods.
• The implications of a six month qualifying period.
• The extent to which PIP will act as a gateway to other benefits, including Carers Allowance and the Motability Scheme.
• The design of the PIP assessment, including: the assessment criteria and design; whether the assessment can objectively assess those with mental, intellectual and cognitive conditions and with fluctuating conditions; and the extent to which aids and appliances should be taken into account in the assessment.
• The delivery of the PIP assessment, including: who should carry it out; the approach to tendering for the assessment contract; who should make the award decisions; whether there are lessons to be learned from the Harrington Review of the Work Capability Assessment; and interaction with other eligibility assessments.
• How DLA/PIP should apply to children and people over the state pension age
• The steps DWP needs to take to ensure that its reform proposals are clearly and effectively communicated to claimants and the general public.

Short submissions (no more than 3,000 words) are invited from interested organisations and individuals.

Action for M.E. will be submitting a response, drawing on the views and experiences of people with M.E. and their carers. If you would like us to include your views and experiences in our report, please send them to our Policy Officer, Tristana Rodriguez, by 22 August.

Alternatively, submit an individual response to the Work and Pensions Committee direct, as outlined in their terms, by 2 September.