The National Audit Office last week gave its verdict on plans by the Department for Work and Pensions to digitalise and transform all the health assessments of disabled people claiming benefit and Personal Independence Payments (PIP) by 2029 and raised serious concerns whether it would work..
This is not a minor matter for the disabled. Some 3.9 million working age people claim these benefits and those claiming both PIP and the Employment and Support Allowance have to pass two health assessments. By 2025-6 the number of claimants is estimated to rise to 5.8 million. Every year private contractors assess nearly two million people. There also has been a rise in people claiming ESA as a result of the pension age for women going up from 60 to 66 and for men from 65 to 66.
As usual this report appears to have had little coverage in the national media -despite the millions of people that will be affected.
High risk of delay, cost overruns without achieving benefits
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.”
He called for the department to revise its business plan for the £1 billion scheme and for more transparency so that perhaps even MPs can understand its implications.
At present disabled people have to provide multiple documents and fill in long forms to claim and the system is unpopular. The new system will digitalise the process, cut out duplication but will still depend on private contractors assessing whether people are unfit enough to claim.
Appeals over claiming PIP are unnecessarily high with decisions by the private firms being overturned and there have been cases where people turned down for disabled benefits have died and the DWP under Therese Coffey covered up reports about this. See this report in the Disability News Service.
The transformation is going to take place alongside new five year contracts for three private companies, Capita. US company Maximus, and Australian firm Ingeus worth over £1.6 billion with an IT contract to Atos to provide the computer back up. Nearly all the companies (except Ingeus) have been linked to claimants deaths as an article in Disability News Service reveals.
Limited testing of system using state appointed medical advisers
At the same time there is going to be a limited state provided service in London and Birmingham where the DWP will employ medical assessors directly. The aim according to the NAO report is to ” test and learn ” the new system and pass on the information to the contractors.
The NAO is sceptical whether this twin approach will work in time for the national 2029 launch as the contracts awarded to these firms will not be flexible enough to make changes without no doubt further expensive negotiations.
One of the main aims of the scheme is to save public money through digitalisation and the DWP estimates a £2.6 billion saving up to 2035. One wonders though whether all the disabled people will be able to use computers to apply on line ( all PIP applications will be on line) eventually. Can they download apps etc and do they all possess smart phones?
Once again I am going to be sceptical about this – particularly after the NAO’s report on Making Tax Digital which it revealed has been subject to long delays and huge increases in costs. Given other areas I have covered in the DWP I have little confidence they can get things right.
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Another project sanctioned by politicians who lack either the will or capacity to introduce technology to speed up the voting process in parliament. Instead they prefer to spend their time going through archaic voting processes, rather than extending time for debate or, indeed, making themselves more productive. The NAO is right to be sceptical. Thank you for this informative article/
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It is time Stop this nanny pambying 1 those on housing benefits 5 years+ and contributing nothing to the economy be moved to areas where there is little work 2 the estates of those on benefits be charged with equipment received 3 those living on their childrens Allowances should also be moved We are too soft Mike Dehaan
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You rightly raise valid concerns about DWP’s digital transformation plan and the potential risks of over-reliance on large consultancies. While digitalisation can improve efficiency and claimant experiences, it’s essential to retain internal knowledge and capacity for innovation. Over-outsourcing will lead to a ‘knowledge drain’ within the DWP, hindering its ability to effectively respond to changes.
Adopting an agile approach can help, but with careful planning. This involves smaller-scale testing and iterative improvements based on feedback, ensuring the transformation achieves its intended outcomes – be it faster processing times or improved claimant satisfaction. However, the key is to balance external consultants with internal capacity building to retain critical system knowledge and foster an environment conducive to innovation.
Indeed, under successive governments, both blue and red, we’ve witnessed ridiculous amounts of taxpayers’/our money wasted, suggesting a dire need for systemic change!
It’s high time for the bureaucracy to think differently, and for citizens to demand more accountability. For those interested in learning more about effective governance and reform, please visit http://www.better-gov.com
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