Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment awarded, Atos said: In August, the whistleblower expanded on his allegations in a first-hand account published by the "British Medical Journal". He suggested that the DWP's alleged actions might have been at least partly driven by pressure to "reduce government debt". The DWP's senior doctors made no reply but the clinical director of Atos did respond. In relation to the claim that some Atos assessors had been led to interpret the test's criteria too harshly, she did not deny that the "bogus rules of thumb" had been used in training talks but she said that assessors were expected to follow
Incapacity Benefit than 500,000. The Coalition government decided to implement the plan to reassess most remaining Incapacity Benefit recipients. This reassessment programme, which began in early 2011 and was effectively completed in 2016, used an updated version of the Work Capability Assessment. Recipients confirmed as having 'limited capability for work' – often colloquially, but not technically accurately, referred to as being 'unfit for work' – were transferred onto ESA; any found fully capable of work would, in theory, have had their Incapacity Benefit payments stopped and then been invited to consider applying for Jobseekers Allowance (JSA). In practice, many Incapacity Benefit recipients