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- can be extremely stressful and is often unnecessary.
"People with a 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."
An assessment is a way of finding out what help a person needs. When you have an assessment, you might have to go to a meeting or fill in a form. can be extremely stressful and is often unnecessary.
A learning disability is to do with the way someone's brain works. It makes it harder for someone to learn, understand or do things. 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."