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Disability benefit reform plans ‘at risk of delay, expense and not meeting aims’

PLANS to simplify health assessments for disability benefits are at risk of being delayed, costing more than expected and not meeting their intended aims, a report warned yesterday.

The Health Transformation 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 Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) previously acknowledged that it is a “large, complex and agile programme.”

In its report, the National Audit Office (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.”

The body recommended that the department review its plan and come up with an updated business case, incorporating reforms set out in the March white paper reforms.

The reforms involve the scrapping of the work capability assessment (WCA), leaving only the personal independence payment (PIP).

Disability equality charity Scope has warned the government it must “make sure it doesn’t replace one out-of-touch test with another.”

Scope’s Thomas Hamilton-Shaw 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 WCA 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.”

A DWP spokesperson said the programme would deliver on its promises.

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