DWP provides assessors with guidance on issues including evidence use, contributions of family members and carers, and informal observations which, if correctly followed, would address many of the concerns raised in this area. The accounts we have heard in this inquiry, and those from the previous Committee’s Health assessments for benefits 91 inquiry, suggest that, too often, guidance is not followed correctly. We believe this points to fundamental weaknesses in the Department’s quality cont...

DWP provides assessors with guidance on issues including evidence use, contributions of family members and carers, and informal observations which, if correctly followed, would address many of the concerns raised in this area. The accounts we have heard in this inquiry, and those from the previous Committee’s Health assessments for benefits 91 inquiry, suggest that, too often, guidance is not followed correctly. We believe this points to fundamental weaknesses in the Department’s quality control over its contractors, which we return to later in this Report. We recommend the Department reviews the guidance on carers’ and family members’ eviden Type: recommendation | Number: 17 | Paragraph: 77 | Response status: under_consideration Government response: Health assessments for benefits 13 recommendations for learning from Tribunal, and options for incorporating this into wider reform of health assessments. The Department should commission this work within three months of this Report. (Pa