[Sexbomb]

The DWP have announced this afternoon that Atos have won the biggest share of the contracts for carrying out personal independence payment (PIP) medicals. A smaller share has gone to Capita.

PIP is due to begin replacing disability living allowance (DLA) for working age claimants from April next year, with all current working age DLA claimants having to be reassessed for the new benefit. The contracts for PIP medicals are worth up to a billion pounds in total and have attracted the attention of many multinational companies.

Atos have won Lot 1 and Lot 3 in the bidding for the contracts.* Lot 1 covers Scotland, NE England, NW England & Isle of Man while Lot 3 covers London and South England.* Capita have won Lot 2, which covers Wales and Central England.

Lot 4 which covers Northern Ireland has not yet been awarded and Lot 5 is also up for grabs, but the DWP have said they do not intend to use Lot 5 unless things go wrong with regional suppliers.

Atos are deeply unpopular with many claimants and disability organisations due to their methods of assessing claimants for employment and support allowance.* On Monday of this week, the company was the subject of a Panorama documentary and a Dispatches documentary looking at alleged failings in the way they carry out the work capability assessment.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/supplying-dwp/what-we-buy/welfare-to-work-services/health-and-disability-assessment/

This makes me bloody sick that these unfair b******s are putting sick people through hell already

[johnnybgoode83]

These assessments are not fit for purpose as evidenced by the high success rate of appeals. There must be a more accurate way of determining who is fit for work and who is not.

[ShaunIOW]

Great so more public money siphoned off into private bank accounts and bonuses rather than being used to help people who need it - when is the penny going to drop with the British public and media that this lot in government (and the last bunch as well) aren't presiding over austerity cutbacks, they're just diverting the money to themselves and their mates. I wonder how many civil servents and ministers will be appointed ATOS and Capita directors and consultants in the near future and how much of a donation Tory central office will be getting.

[WindWalker]

Originally Posted by johnnybgoode83

These assessments are not fit for purpose as evidenced by the high success rate of appeals. There must be a more accurate way of determining who is fit for work and who is not.

It's not about who is fit for work and who isn't. It's not even about the persons medical problems or their mobility, it's a money saving program enforced by redefining the rules on sickness/disability. The medical procedure is just a front to give some air of respectability to it for the gullible public.

The targets are set by govvernment, that was from Atos trainers mouths on the programmes last week and those 12% allowed to remain are the target set by the DWP. No doubt many will also lose out in this latest venture by Atos...

[Richievilla]

I will have Capita, although it will make no difference as it is the DWP (and the likes of UNUM) who are behind the PIP descriptors which "better reflect today’s understanding of disability"...in other words, turf as many people off DLA as possible in order to achieve the Government's totally arbitrary target of 20% off what they say is the cost of DLA, (but which is not the more accurate and lower net cost).

As it is only working age claimants that are being targeted, this means that 25% (500,000) will lose their vital support, costing thousands of jobs, millions in lower tax receipts, increased pressure and costs on social care and the NHS, plus lots of human misery. Of course there are also the extra corporate welfare costs of £710 million to implement the new 11 question tick box assessment plus hundreds of millions of pounds to the corporate welfare leeches who win the highly lucrative contracts.

I should still get PIP higher rate mobility/lower rate care, but that is only because my condition has worsened significantly over the last 2 or 3 years and I am under-claiming on the DLA care element, as I should qualify for intermediate care. It won't, however, stop me from criticising the Government's latest inhumane policy as I know that many thousands of genuine people will lose out.

[Sexbomb]

This face to face assessment will no doubt be unfair on this and go in meltdown if everyone has it.

[mrsmoose]

That is scary, they claimed my dad was fit for work weeks after he'd had a heart attack and while he was still under hospital care.

[CELT1987]

PIP will go the same way as the WCA assesments. It will end up costing money in appeals.

[tinshed]

Scary times indeed.

[petertard]

Why is there no Parliamentary opposition to this ? Labour seem to support the government's plans.

[CELT1987]

Originally Posted by petertard

Why is there no Parliamentary opposition to this ? Labour seem to support the government's plans.

Of course Labour do, they started the WCA assesments with ATOS. They can hardly vote against it when they created them.

[johnnybgoode83]

Originally Posted by petertard

Why is there no Parliamentary opposition to this ? Labour seem to support the government's plans.

That's because Labour are Tory Lite.

[Tassium]

This is no less than British Nazism.

A future society will likely be ashamed of all this, but they won't blame themselves of course.

[barrcode88]

Given I'm in Central England if I was still on DLA I'd be with Capita - but poor sods whoever have ATOS as they are worse than Capita (who despite criticism are actually pretty efficient with public sector workers..most of the time)

[Lee Morris]

H!! All
Yes these tories are utter Scum and they are doing it again, what I mean by that is what happened before when the Tory Scums were in power and we have seen already with the closure of Remploy.

People with disabilities will be the hardest hit by the government who do not care at all but what about those with disabilities such as myself that it will hit and has hit already, the result is we get frustrated as well as very very anxious and angry.

This can result in lots of cases of us acting and committing some sort of crime out of our problems and what will be the result, not that it was due to us being unsettled but that we should not being living in the community and that we should be looked up and the key thrown away.

It happened before with the Tories and it is now happening again, they are utter Scum. Having said that there are a lot of people who do not care about people with disabilities and not only do not have a lack of respect for others but are such Scum that they fake disability and that is why there were calls for Labour to change the benefits system.

Sadly you can not have it both ways but it will always be the dishonest whom for whatever reason get away with it while the honest are made to suffer the most, that is why I have said before that I feel at some point a future government has to come up with instilling a respect agenda in society and stick with it.

I just feel how dare people have the cheek to drive over the speed limit as well as use mobile phones while driving even though it is the law and yet how many of the same people complain about other wrong doers?, also there are the people who complain about rubish in peoples front gardens in their communities and yet with have sweat packets etc in ours but we do not throw them on the ground ourselfs which means other people are throwing it down and it is being blown with the wind.

People need to get real.

[Tassium]

Basically it's murder, no different than work camps driving people to their deaths.

Morally is slow to catch up but it will catch up and the Conservatives and their helpers will suffer for a long time, no help to those terrorised now of course.

[husted]

Originally Posted by CELT1987

Of course Labour do, they started the WCA assesments with ATOS. They can hardly vote against it when they created them.

When the Tories came in they changed things significantly; claiming the assessments weren't 'fit for purpose'. Fit for their purpose more like.

I support assessments to find cheats and identify people who are being let down by the system.

It's not the existence of assessments that is the problem, it's their use by this Tory government to deny people the benefits they are due. And that's not why Labour introduced them.

[Lee Morris]

Hi! All
Here! Here! well said Husted.

[WindWalker]

Originally Posted by husted

When the Tories came in the changed things significantly; claiming the assessments weren't 'fit for purpose'. Fit for their purpose more like.

I support assessments to find cheats and identify people who are being let down by the system.

It's not the existence of assessments that is the problem, it's their use by this Tory government to deny people the benefits they are due. And that's not why Labour introduced them.

I'm afraid it was. They wanted to reduce the cost as much as this government does. They both see the poor, sick and disabled as easy targets. This government has been as harsh, if not harsher, than the last but nothing would change if Labour got in tomorrow. Also worth remembering how most benefit fraud is found out; it's by observing people and scrutinising records. You don't see pictures of the people coming out of an atos assessment in benefit fraud cases featured in the papers do you? You see them playing golf, football or dancing, none of which is part of a medical.

There have always been assessments and up to date information required by the DWP, some people seem to think there was nothing before atos, there was but it was fair and professional. Now it's a cost cutting measure and health has little to do with it.

[moonburn]

Originally Posted by Tassium

Basically it's murder, no different than work camps driving people to their deaths.

Morally is slow to catch up but it will catch up and the Conservatives and their helpers will suffer for a long time, no help to those terrorised now of course.

Yes.
It is.And labour just stand back do say nothing because they are so scared of being seen as 'soft'.

this is going to end in such a bad way and I blame all the Charities out there that sat around the table when all this was being talked about and didnt walk out saying NO its wrong they gave the goverment names to bandy about saying they fully supported this that and the other.

[psionic]

Sorry to be thick. Currently people on DLA are regularly tested for WCA by ATOS? From next year DLA will be changed to PIP and will be tested yet again by ATOS but those tests won't be called WCA? Why the need for an additional contract?

[barrcode88]

Originally Posted by psionic

Sorry to be thick. Currently people on DLA are regularly tested for WCA by ATOS? From next year DLA will be changed to PIP and will be tested yet again by ATOS but those tests won't be called WCA? Why the need for an additional contract?

Unless in Wales or the Midlands those will be carried out by Capita or 'Crapita' as the Private Eye amusingly put, but despite criticism they aren't as bad as Atos (who will assess the North and South of the country)

[husted]

Originally Posted by CELT1987

Of course Labour do, they started the WCA assesments with ATOS. They can hardly vote against it when they created them.

Originally Posted by WindWalker

I'm afraid it was. They wanted to reduce the cost as much as this government does. They both see the poor, sick and disabled as easy targets. This government has been as harsh, if not harsher, than the last but nothing would change if Labour got in tomorrow. Also worth remembering how most benefit fraud is found out; it's by observing people and scrutinising records. You don't see pictures of the people coming out of an atos assessment in benefit fraud cases featured in the papers do you? You see them playing golf, football or dancing, none of which is part of a medical.

There have always been assessments and up to date information required by the DWP, some people seem to think there was nothing before atos, there was but it was fair and professional. Now it's a cost cutting measure and health has little to do with it.

Of course Labour wanted to control (cut) costs. That's just responsible government. They didn't do enough of that.

We get told by Tory FM's on DS every day that Labour threw money at benefits and now you tell me they are just as harsh as the Tories. Neither is true.

What is true that in the current climate that Labour dont want to be seen as soft on benefit cheats. This is precisely because they gained a reputation for being overly generous on benefits while in power.

However, this doesn't mean Labour have become as nasty as the Tories, just that they are having to change tact. I'm pretty sure if you were to poll on which party would provide fairer disability payments and rights for workers and non-workers, Labour would win by a landslide.

After all Labour is still part of the Labour- Union movement and this sense of fairness was why it was founded.

[alcockell]

If only John Smith hadn't died...

[Charnham]

I can only assume that Labours plan for winning the next election, is simply not being the Tories, well that isnt anywhere near good enough.

No party is going to win my vote, simply by not being other party, it is just that kinda of party based voting, which has helped lead us to where we are now.