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
Work Capability Assessment Professor Harrington once he had submitted his final report in 2012. A year after the policy was announced, the DWP said that henceforth claimants placed in the Support Group after their WCA who have a "severe, lifelong disability" (as judged by the DWP) "will no longer need to be reassessed". Between 2011 and 2013 around 40% of claimants found 'fit for work' appealed to a tribunal and around 40% of those appeals were successful. The total number of external appeals dropped markedly over the course of 2013, although most appellants who reach the tribunal stage now see their 'fit for