Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment the "written" guidance contained in the 255-page instruction manual issued to all assessors: The foreword to the WCA Handbook states: On 22 July 2013, the DWP announced that all Atos WCA assessors would be retrained, as part of a "quality improvement plan" that followed "a DWP audit which identified an unacceptable reduction in the quality of written reports produced following assessments." In 2006, the New Labour government set out its plans for welfare reform: over the course of a decade, it expected the deployment of the WCA to shrink the number of people on out-of-work sickness benefits by one million,
Work Capability Assessment the sickness benefit caseload increased — partly a consequence of the banking crisis and its effect on the economy and on jobs. An overhaul of the test began soon afterwards.The Labour Welfare Secretary at the time, James Purnell, wrote that these and other changes would ensure that "only those who are genuinely incapable of work" would get full ESA. The DWP's in-house medical experts piloted the new criteria in 2010 and parliament gave them legal force in March 2011. Some of these changes would make it easier for some claimants with specific conditions to receive ESA, but most were intended