Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment assessments. On the same day, an Atos spokesman made it clear that the training curriculum was set by the DWP and duly followed by Atos, stating: "We do not deviate from government guidelines in our training". The Employment Minister was asked by the BBC about the allegations of bias but he replied with a general explanation of the principles underpinning the Incapacity Benefit reassessment programme. Tom Greatrex MP wrote to the Prime Minister to bring to his attention the whistleblower's allegations that the core assessment was "skewed against the claimant". Downing Street made no reply but simply passed the letter
Incapacity Benefit up by the examining doctor and used by Job Centre staff to plan ways to boost recipients' employability, in the hope of returning them to work. This new test was also used to assess some fresh claims for Incapacity Benefit. In 2004, the caseload peaked at just under 2,500,000 then began to fall slowly. In late 2008, New Labour replaced Incapacity Benefit with Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) for new claims and yet another eligibility test was introduced: the Work Capability Assessment. At the same time, capacity was boosted by bringing in nurses to carry out the bulk of the