Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment Initially, both the DWP and Atos denied having had any target for getting claimants "off" sickness benefits. However, both eventually admitted that Support Group "norms" were being used nationwide, though they both denied that the purpose of "targeted audit" was to limit the number of claimants placed in the Support Group. Atos said that the audit process triggered by the breach of a "norm" was intended to ensure consistency across the firm's UK team: if the assessor's reports met the DWP's expectations, the healthcare professional would not be asked to change their recommendations. In May 2013, another doctor who had
Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities said in 2016 that despite previous modifications to the WCA, it still paid too little attention to "personal circumstances and needs, and barriers faced by persons with disabilities to return to employment, particularly those of persons with intellectual and/or psychosocial disabilities". In its reply to the United Nations, the DWP stressed the efforts it was making to bridge the 'disability gap' and boost the number of disabled people in work. In 2016, Iain Duncan Smith described the WCA as having been "unbelievably harsh" when introduced under New Labour; the Labour