Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment thereby saving £7billion a year. A reassessment of long-term recipients was expected to start in 2009 but the start was delayed until 2011 while the test's criteria were reviewed. In 2012, the DWP's handling of its contract with Atos was the subject of a critical report by the National Audit Office (NAO). The Public Accounts Committee heard that in that year the DWP had paid Atos £112m to carry out WCAs. The chair of the committee told the BBC that the DWP got "far too many decisions wrong on claimants’ ability to work" and that this came at a "considerable
Incapacity Benefit pilot studies overstated the percentage of claimants who were capable of finding a job. With the passage of time, experience showed that the vast majority of Incapacity Benefit recipients also met the more stringent criteria for ESA as well, and the combined total of people on these benefits hardly changed between 2008 and 2015. Furthermore, the generic rehabilitation programme for those on ESA who were considered to be able to work in the future – the Work Programme – proved largely ineffective in returning them to work. In February 2005, the BBC analysed New Labour's record on welfare reform: The