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 that it was "an accurate indicator of work capability compared with expert opinion". Conversely, Kent University academic Ben Geiger has made international comparisons of the test: he found “no transparent evidence that the WCA captures the demands of work in Britain today". In practice, experience has shown that the WCA usually identifies these types of claims correctly: However, the process has largely struggled to categorise claims correctly if they fall between these two extremes, particularly where mental health is concerned. In fiscal terms, the deployment of the WCA was expected to more than halve the sickness benefit bill over the