The Independent Review of the Personal Independence Payment Assessment Process delivered its findings last week. The Review can be found here.

The Review made 14 recommendations, including that the  the Department for Communities develop straightforward material describing the PIP assessment process, and that the Department for Communities introduce audio-visual recording of assessments in both home and assessment centre locations. The Review has highlighted many of the issues that we know disabled people are experiencing when applying for PIP.  The recommendations now need to be implemented and the Department needs to directly engage with disabled people to ensure that there are improvements to the system. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has made clear recommendations on what needs to be done to change the system so that disabled people's human rights are not violated. 

The recommendations go some way to addressing the issues with PIP and the evidence that you gave to the review has helped highlight the issues. Therefore we wish to thank you all for taking the time to respond to the Call for Evidence. We would encourage you to contact your local MLA to ask them to ensure that the recommendations are implemented by the Department for Communities. 

Read the report