Work Capability Assessment to the DWP and would no longer be allowed to recommend any claimants for the Support Group without asking for permission first. When the doctor asked an experienced assessor where these rules had come from, she replied: "DWP". Both the DWP and Atos categorically denied ever 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
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,