§ The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mr. Andrew Smith)I am today announcing that the disability and carers service (DCS), the organisation responsible for delivering disability and carers benefits within the Department for Work and Pensions, will be assigned formal executive agency status with a chief executive appointed by open competition.
The DCS is a substantial business, employing over 7,000 staff and paying out in excess of £11 billion a year in disability living allowance, attendance allowance and carers allowance to just under 4.5 million people. The customers are some of the most disadvantaged in society and the benefits require specialist assessment of care and mobility needs.
In April 2002, my Department established Jobcentre Plus and The Pension Service as executive agencies to provide services to people of working age and pensioners. However, extra cost disability and carers benefits continued to be administered by an organisation with non-executive status. Since 2002, without formal agency status, the DCS has made substantial improvements in the speed and quality of decision-making. The new agency will keep up the momentum, actively building on these achievements. Agency status will improve efficiency and customer service, allowing the organisation to agree clear goals with me and then having the clear accountability for delivery.
As work to set up the agency progresses, my Department will consult with groups representing disabled people to ensure that the new organisation is designed in a way that best suits the needs of its customers.
The process of establishing the agency and selection of the chief executive by open competition will now commence. I have not yet set a date for launching the agency. It is important to ensure smooth transition with the minimum disruption to business delivery. I am, however, confident that these changes will sharpen 8WS accountabilities and improve services significantly for the millions of disabled people and their carers receiving these benefits.