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
Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment investigation regarding those deaths by an independent body". In October 2018, the Scottish National Party used Prime Minister's Questions to ask Theresa May about the WCA and the suicide or self-harm of people going through it (an issue that is covered in detail on the Criticism of the Work Capability Assessment page). Polly MacKenzie is the director of the think-tank Demos. Previously, she helped draw up the Coalition Agreement in 2010 that foresaw the Incapacity Benefit reassessment programme going ahead and she was Nick Clegg's director of policy until 2015. In 2018, she was quoted by "The Observer" as saying