SINN Féin’s Karen Mullan has said that the Department of Communities should act on claimants’ concerns over transparency and fairness of PIP assessments.The Foyle MLA was speaking following an independent report which recommended that PIP assessments should be recorded, citing a lack of public trust in fairness of procedure.
Karen Mullan said: “For many months Sinn Féin have raised concerns about the fairness, accuracy and transparency of PIP assessments carried out by Capita.
“We have observed serious procedural problems that act as a barrier to people with disabilities accessing PIP.
“My party colleague Alex Maskey MLA has met with Capita and the Department of Communities to voice these exact concerns being raised in our engagements with constituents.
“The Department of Communities should take account of the many serious concerns of claimants about the integrity of PIP assessments.
“In an effort to rebuild trust and confidence in these assessments, the Department should provide equipment to assessors to record interviews with claimants, if and when requested.”
