The Countess of Mar tabled a question asking whether “claimants will have an automatic right to a copy of their assessment for employment support allowance, disability living allowance and the forthcoming personal independence payment at the time of the assessment; and if not, why not.”
In a written answer on 15 October 2012, the Minister for Welfare Reform at the Department for Work and Pensions (Lord Freud), replied:
Claimants can request a copy of any assessment reports provided to DWP following assessments in relation to employment and support allowance and disability living allowance. Requests can be made at any time and the responsibility for issuing reports lies with the department.
Assessments are, however, not provided at the time of the assessment itself. This is because decisions on benefit entitlement are not made by the health professional carrying out the assessment but by a departmental decision-maker. The assessment report only forms part of the evidence used by the decision-maker and providing it to the claimant in advance of the decision might be misleading.
We intend to follow an identical approach for personal independence payment, when it is introduced from 2013-14.
This is an infuriating response from Lord Freud and I think that he knows exactly why !
A decision making process that is constructed in this way, seems to be deliberately designed in order to provide all those involved with a place to hide, whilst claiming that the decision (or the evidence it is based upon) isn’t their responsibility.
This is a disgraceful betrayal of ordinary people who are left to fall through the cracks in our society, with nowhere to turn for help.