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
Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment 49 claimants. It went on to explain that it only did this if a): it had been formally notified of a death by a relative of the deceased or a solicitor, and b): a link between the death and the DWP's actions had been alleged. The department admitted that these case audits would not try to establish who was responsible for any mistakes, nor would they "apportion blame" to anyone connected to the deaths. Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) is used by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in the United Kingdom to