Thank you, convener, and good morning.
I am the Atos client executive responsible for delivery of the personal independence payment—or PIP, as I will refer to it from now on—contract. I joined Atos in March 2014 exclusively to manage the end-to-end PIP contract.
I am pleased to have been invited to today’s Welfare Reform Committee to talk about the important role that Atos plays in PIP in Scotland. It is also good to have this opportunity to explain how we work with our partners on PIP, and the role of the Department of Work and Pensions.
Atos has no involvement in policy setting. We are responsible solely for evidence gathering on behalf of the DWP via the assessment process, so that reports are delivered to the department for decisions to be made. Atos uses a blended model of local supply-chain partners as well as our own clinicians, and we provide all the back-office support functions for Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
PIP was introduced as a brand new benefit, and all parties involved in PIP have had a difficult start—lessons and improvements needed to be worked on very quickly. People had to wait longer than we would have expected and we have been very clear that those delays were unacceptable.
I am pleased therefore to have the opportunity to provide members of the committee with an update on the progress that we have made in Scotland, which includes a four-times increase in our head count of health professionals, which has ensured that the time that is taken to move through the process is now approximately four weeks—or four to five weeks where a home consultation is required.
With our partners, we now have 65 assessment rooms available throughout Scotland. We have also ensured that anyone who lives in an outlying area or in a geographically challenging part of the country where public transport availability is difficult will receive a home consultation as part of the assessment process.
I am very aware of the difficulties of the past and the concerns that surround the process, which is why I am constantly looking at ways to improve the part of the process for which Atos is responsible. Everyone involved in the PIP process at Atos is doing all that they can to make sure that the experience that people have of coming for an assessment to us or to one of our partners is as positive as it can be.
I was therefore pleased that the committee convener and colleagues were able to visit both the Salus and Atos assessment centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh to see at first hand the level of professionalism and care that is afforded to people who visit for an assessment.
Once again, I thank you for the invitation to attend today’s meeting.