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
Work Capability Assessment Green replied: In February 2018 Baroness Altmann, a former minister at the DWP, said: In the same month Polly MacKenzie, who was the Deputy Prime Minister's director of policy from 2010 until 2015, declared: "We need to think again about how we assess work capability" because "capability assessors too often have a culture of disbelief about disability, especially mental illness". Work Capability Assessment The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is the test used by the British Government's Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to decide whether welfare claimants are entitled to sickness benefits. The WCA was introduced in 2008. Prior to