DWP 'Leads the Way in Openness and Transparency'

The DWP is a pioneer of truthfulness regarding statistics, one of its spokespersons has said.  DWP ministers have continually stated that the majority of people on disability living allowance (DLA) were given benefits for life without any supporting medical evidence. The DWP's official press releases claimed that "more than 50% of decisions on entitlement are made on the basis of the claim form alone, without any additional corroborating medical evidence."  But an investigation by the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA) discovered that the real figure for claims passed without supporting medical evidence was actually 10%. The DWP also claimed that up to 71% of claimants get "indefinite awards without systematic reassessments" under the current system of DLA. However, the UKSA found that this claim was also untrue and that in the last two years of the DLA only 23% and 24% of claimants were given indefinite awards. Read more on 24dash.