Important Change Made to PIP Regulations - Thanks Select Committee for Making DWP see sense!
Last week at a sitting of the Work & Pensions Select Committee they were taking evidence on the PIP regulations from Esther McVey the Minister for Disabled People. Simon Dawson, PIP Policy, Design, Test and Assurance Programme Manager & Dr Bill Gunnyeon Chief Medical Adviser were also there.
During the meeting it was pointed out to the Minister that the words "reliably/repeatedly/ safely/in a timely fashion" which were used in DLA descriptors were missing from the descriptors/regulations and that the DWP thought they could get away with only putting them into the Assessors Guidance Handbook on the PIP Criteria. What's the difference? For those of us with fluctuation conditions those words are important & the difference is a very important one because if they're in the Descriptors they have legal standing which could be used at appeal if you felt they hadn't been taken into consideration but if they're only in the Guidance documents they don't have legal standing as they are only being used as guidance to the assessor.
Anyway, I've just heard that there has been a DWP Press Release and they have now put the words back into the regulations:
Including consideration of reliability in the PIP Regulations
On 31 January 2013 DWP Ministers announced plans to amend the Regulations on Personal Independence Payment (PIP), to make clear that, when assessing whether an individual can carry out an activity, we must look at whether they can carry out that activity:
safely
to an acceptable standard
repeatedly
in a reasonable time period.
This concept has always been integral to the Department’s proposals for the PIP assessment but Ministers have agreed to include it in the Regulations to make the policy intent clear in legislation.
The Department has published a draft amending Regulation. These may be subject to further refinement. A final Regulation will be laid once the PIP Regulations currently being considered by Parliament are made but before they come into force in April 2013."
Well done Select Committee- keep the DWP on their toes. You can watch them in action here: parliamentlive.tv/Main/...
