The weak contract worth £100 million

Moving people off sickness benefits and back into the workplace was never going to be an easy job. It’s a sensitive process dealing with all the grey areas that complex illnesses and disabilities throw up, and has always needed careful handling. But today ministers came under fire for the way they hold the company that carries out the assessments for fitness-to-work decisions to account. The National Audit Office has identified weaknesses in the Work and Pensions department’s contract with Atos Healthcare, which carries out the work capability assessments. Comptroller and Auditor General Amyas Morse has written a letter to Labour MP Tom Greatrex, who is investigating Atos’ performance, saying:

‘We do not consider that the current contractual targets are sufficiently challenging, and in our view this allows the contractor to deliver a significant number of assessments before financial penalties became due.