Almost 1 in 5 PIP reports created by Independent Assessment Services (IAS, formerly Atos) were either unacceptable or were only acceptable after changes had been made to them. The shameful figures were released this month by Justin Tomlinson, minister for disabled people.
The figures showed that 19.4% of IAS PIP reports which were audited were found to be either ‘Unacceptable’ or only ‘Acceptable with amendments’.
A further 17% were acceptable but required the health assessor to be given feedback about aspects of their report.
That such a high proportion of reports are of such poor quality six years after PIP was introduced is a matter a matter of enormous concern, especially to claimants who are likely to lose out because of sub-standard assessments.
It lends additional credibility to the intention of the Scottish administration to move all benefits assessments in-house again.
The full figures are set out in the table below.
| Grades | April 16 - Mar 17 | April 17 - Mar 18 | April 18 - Mar 19 |
| Acceptable | 7,300 | 7,930 | 7,480 |
| Acceptable with feedback | 1,380 | 1,820 | 1,990 |
| Acceptable with amendments | 650 | 1,220 | 1,780 |
| Unacceptable | 460 | 620 | 500 |
| Total audited | 9,790 | 11,590 | 11,750 |
