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
Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment Nick Clegg's former policy director added: "Capability assessors too often have a culture of disbelief about disability, especially mental illness". Dr Paul Litchfield helped to design the WCA in 2006 and he later reviewed its performance for parliament. Of the design phase, he said: A review undertaken by occupational heath expert Professor Malcolm Harrington in 2010 found that the test was too reliant on "computer systems and drop-down menus" and "was not working as well as it should" — but he felt that the suggestions he was making would improve the process, if adopted by the DWP. In February 2011,