The Work and Pensions department has this morning announced that Atos, the provider of the Work Capability Assessments which determine whether a benefit claimant is fit for work, is leaving its contract early. The company, which had been underperforming on the contract for a while, was supposed to carry out the WCA until August 2015, but has made a ‘substantial financial settlement’ to DWP. Mike Penning has emphasised this in his reaction to the announcement, saying:
‘I am pleased to confirm that Atos will not receive a single penny of compensation from the taxpayer for the early termination of their contract, quite the contrary, Atos has made a substantial financial settlement to the Department.’
But it’s interesting that in its own statement, Atos makes the following points:
‘Atos Healthcare do not make the decision on someone’s benefit entitlement – the reports produced by Atos are only a part of the process with DWP-decision-makers making the final decision.
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