Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment Initially, both the DWP and Atos denied having had any target for getting claimants "off" sickness benefits. However, both eventually admitted that Support Group "norms" were being used nationwide, though they both denied that the purpose of "targeted audit" was to limit the number of claimants placed in the Support Group. Atos said that the audit process triggered by the breach 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. In May 2013, another doctor who had
Work Capability Assessment get rid of it". On the same BBC programme, Kier Starmer QC, a former Director of Public Prosecutions, said: In September 2016, Damian Green, the Welfare Secretary, was asked by the BBC's Andrew Marr about the deaths of specific benefit claimants: In reply, the Secretary of State acknowledged that "obviously there are individual cases where it looks as though the system is not working". Marr asked once more: "Are you going to look again at the way people have been assessed generally to see if it has been as fair and humane as [...] you would like it to be?"