My Lords, this has been a long journey, with many bumps and scrapes along the way. We are grateful to my noble friend and his team for listening to many representations on the whole issue of replacing DLA with the new territory of PIP—I declare an interest in that I receive DLA— and I am very pleased that the timetable for PIP’s implementation is being slowed down to ensure that it is got right. We all know that the DWP is determined to reduce the number of people eligible for PIP, but I am not going to talk about the numbers, because I am not sure anyone can really forecast with any accuracy how many people will be found to be eligible and how many ineligible. However, I would ask my noble friend whether the DWP has taken fully into account all those disabled people, like me, who receive DLA and who are now well over pension age and still going. The last thing anyone wants is for disabled people whose way of life depends on being eligible for the higher rate of mobility allowance, which opens the gate for a Motability vehicle, suddenly to have that gate slammed shut by a rigid new PIP ruling.
I shall just say a word about what my Motability car means to me. It not only transports me about but takes all my aids too, which I could not carry around in any other way. A look inside my boot would tell the story. My real fear is that those who do the utmost to help themselves may find that their determination counts against them in being eligible for the enhanced mobility rate. I echo what the noble Lord, Lord McKenzie, said about Access to Work. That is fine, and I know more money has been put into it, but it only helps people to a certain extent in getting to and from work, and it does not help all those people who live in rural or semi-rural places who need to get to hospital appointments, see friends and go to the shops—all those things that Access to Work simply cannot do.
We can only take my noble friend’s word for it that far too many people became eligible for DLA, as a whole, because of the vagueness of the application form and the stretching effect of case law. I take my noble friend’s word for it that descriptor E in activity 12—the “moving around” section of the PIP form—was changed at the last minute to make it clearer, rather than to disadvantage whole rafts of people. I am glad that my noble friend has clarified that further this evening. We all know that suddenly introducing 20 metres as the cut-off point for those walking, aided or unaided, to receive enough points for the enhanced mobility
payment terrified huge numbers of disabled people, especially as the crucial qualifying words were only to be in guidance. I am particularly pleased that my noble friend and his colleagues listened to our pleas to embed the relevant words in regulations.
That has now been done, but I know, as the noble Lord said just now, that there is still acute worry among disabled people that “20 metres” is still there in descriptor E. Perhaps I can say how I understand the situation, in order to try to dispel some of the fog which is still around this vital descriptor, which unlocks the door to a Motability vehicle. The words that are now to be in the amending regulations—
“safely … to an acceptable standard … repeatedly … and in a reasonable time period”—
will apply to all the descriptors. That is why the Minister in another place, and my noble friend tonight, have said that people who could walk up to 50 metres might now be on either standard or higher-mobility DLA and that this will also be the case with PIP—that those who can walk up to 50 metres might qualify for either the enhanced or the standard rate. In another place, the Minister said:
“In seeking to clarify that, we have said that those who can only manage 20 metres will automatically get the enhanced rate. However, using the test of ‘safely, reliably, repeatedly and in a timely manner’, those people who can only manage up to 50 metres could also get an enhanced mobility rate”.—[Official Report, Commons, Eleventh Delegated Legislation Committee, 5/2/13; cols. 17-18.]
So it is not the case that the only people who will get the enhanced rate of PIP are those who cannot walk more than 20 metres. I hope my noble friend will confirm this. Of course, the words the Minister used in another place have now been superseded in the new draft regulations, which I warmly welcome.
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However, before leaving those words, I would be grateful if my noble friend could confirm the meaning of “repeatedly”. The Government’s response to the consultation says:
“We have also broadened the definition of ‘repeatedly’ so this is no longer limited to looking at repeatability on the same day but potentially allows longer considerations—i.e. if an individual walking on one day would prevent them doing so on the next. This reflects concerns raised in the consultation. While we accept that these terms are potentially more subjective than the previous draft, we think they are fairer, more flexible and more accurate”.
This would be of great help, for example, to those with a prosthetic leg who can walk one day but have to use a wheelchair for the next few days. This is a common occurrence and something that a lot of amputees are worried about.
In fact, quite a number of the examples given in the huge amount of material we have been given about PIP display much more flexibility than someone looking at the descriptors on their own would judge. Will the assessors be thoroughly versed in these examples that we have been given by the DWP? Just yesterday I found the PIP assessment guide on the DWP website, which we have talked about. It was very instructive. The absolute key to this whole matter is how the assessment is done and what part JCP decision-makers play in ultimately making these decisions. A lot of successful appeals will mean that the assessors and
decision-makers have not carried out the assessment properly and have not taken medical evidence into account. Here I put in a plea for those people who suffer from severe conditions such as colitis or Crohn’s disease, whose needs are often overlooked.
The internal and external reviews of PIP that have been announced are very welcome, but Atos and Capita must ensure from the outset that their assessors are of the highest quality. Perhaps my noble friend will tell us how the DWP will ensure that PIP assessors are going to be monitored, and reassure us about the dreaded word “targets”. We are often told that targets do not exist but we need to be reassured that the companies themselves do not set informal targets that are below the radar.
Finally, will my noble friend undertake to lay further amending regulations if any of the reviews show that the weighting of the regulations before us today is seriously flawed? With that, I wish PIP well and will keep my fingers crossed for its success.