Clause 8
Welfare Reform Bill
10:30 am
Danny Alexander (Shadow Minister and Disability Spokesperson, Work & Pensions; Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, Liberal Democrat)
The hon. Gentleman makes two very good points. Of course, it might be asking a lot for the same doctor to have expertise in every single potential condition, impairment or disability. That is a valid point, and if the answer was to have a panel of people who a claimant might appeal to, that too might be intimidating. It could also reinforce some of the biggest problems with the assessment process at the moment.
With regard to disability living allowance, specialist nurses can be called upon where someone with a particular condition is presenting. Bearing in mind that in the application for employment and support allowance the applicant has to spell out their reasons, it should be possible to predict with a large degree of accuracy the cases in which some form of specialist input might be useful. That could mean either ensuring that the doctor who is carrying out the assessment has the requisite skills, knowledge or understanding or,if they do not and if no one in that particular locality has those skills and experience, making sure that another specialist doctor or a specialist nurse could be brought in.
I am not seeking to create an unnecessarily burdensome or intimidating assessment procedure. What I am seeking to probe is the extent to which the Government consider it important that specific knowledge of health conditions or disabilities is included in the assessment process to ensure that it is accurate. This is also important in relation to fluctuating conditions, particularly those, such as MS, where specialist knowledge of the condition may be useful in carrying out an assessment.
Particular representations have been made to me in relation to people with autism or autistic spectrum disorders. According to the National Autistic Society, 40 per cent of GPs do not have enough information to make informed assessments in relation to disorders on the autistic spectrum. It is worth noting that only 6 per cent of people who are autistic in some way are in employment. That is an incredibly low figure compared with 49 per cent for disabled people as a whole. This may, therefore, be an area where having a degree of specialist knowledge throughout the assessment process would really help to add value at all stages. I shall be grateful if the Minister will address that point specifically in his response.