Mencap response to merging Personal Independence Payments, Fit to Work assessments and relieving pensioners of reassessments

Dan Scorer, head of policy and public affairs at Mencap said:

“It's positive to see that pensioners will be exempt from being re-assessed, but this needs to also be the case for disabled people of working age, for whom frequent re-assessment can be extremely stressful and is often unnecessary.

"People with a learning disability are more likely to live in poverty than those without and we know that both the 'fit for work' and the 'Personal Independent Payments' assessments currently have flaws which can exacerbate their financial difficulties. There is a risk that merging the two could still result in one inadequate assessment, so we want Government to prioritise improving these processes so that accessing benefits is no longer a source of anxiety and hardship for people with a learning disability."