Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment OBR confirmed that the reforms themselves had done nothing to reduce levels of welfare spending — although a simple freezing of benefit payments, so that they did not rise with inflation, had limited the extent of fiscal failure. But in fiscal year 2016-17, the budget in question had nevertheless risen to £15 billion a year. In 2016, the NAO published another evaluation of the DWP's disability assessment contracts: it said the cost of each WCA had risen from £115 under Atos to £190 under Maximus, to no benefit to the Exchequer. A former chief economist at the DWP, Professor Jonathan
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