Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment assessments. On the same day, an Atos spokesman made it clear that the training curriculum was set by the DWP and duly followed by Atos, stating: "We do not deviate from government guidelines in our training". The Employment Minister was asked by the BBC about the allegations of bias but he replied with a general explanation of the principles underpinning the Incapacity Benefit reassessment programme. Tom Greatrex MP wrote to the Prime Minister to bring to his attention the whistleblower's allegations that the core assessment was "skewed against the claimant". Downing Street made no reply but simply passed the letter
Work Capability Assessment 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. Between October 2008 and November 2010, only fresh claims for ESA were assessed. Figures obtained by the "Daily Mail" in July 2011 showed that in this period, the percentage of claimants placed in the Support Group after undergoing a WCA was 11%. Soon afterwards, a "norm" of 1 in 8 or 12.5% was in use as the benchmark for targeted audit during the Incapacity Benefit reassessment programme, suggesting