Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated current backlog of persons waiting to be assessed by Atos Healthcare for (1) Employment Support Allowance, and (2) Disability Living Allowance, broken down by region of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales; what action they are taking to address the backlog; and on what evidence they base their attribution of the delays to failings within Atos.
Answered by Lord Freud
The table below shows outstanding Employment and Support Allowance new claims, existing Employment and Support Allowance recipients awaiting a review and Incapacity Benefit claimants awaiting reassessment, at the end of April 2014 for England, Scotland and Wales. The figures exclude cases referred to Atos Healthcare where the claimant has yet to return their ESA50 questionnaire.
Region | ESA New claims awaiting a Work Capability Assessment | Existing ESA recipients awaiting a review Work Capability Assessment | Incapacity Benefit recipients awaiting reassessment |
England | 333,000* | 201,000* | 74,000* |
Scotland | 34,000* | 13,000* | 2,000* |
Wales | 28,000* | 20,000* | 7,000* |
* Note: figures are based on operational management information received from Atos Healthcare and are rounded to the nearest thousand.
The total Disability Living Allowance claimants' awaiting an assessment at the end of April 2014 nationally was 800. Figures are based on operational management information received from Atos Healthcare and are rounded to the nearest hundred.This information is not routinely collated to regional area.
The Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland has a separate contract with Atos Healthcare for the delivery of assessments in Northern Ireland. Therefore, questions relating to waiting times in Northern Ireland should be addressed to the Minister for Social Development in Northern Ireland.
We are working closely with our supplier to deliver the best possible service for claimants, driving up performance and quality to help reduce waiting times and process claims as quickly as possible. We are continuing to monitor and robustly manage this contract.
Identification by the Department of a reduction in Atos Healthcare's quality led to decisive action in the form of a retraining and re-accreditation exercise and an overhaul of audit arrangements when we instructed Atos Healthcare to introduce an improvement plan in July 2013. The quality of reports provided by Atos Healthcare has improved significantly but the Department continues to monitor quality closely.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, in the light of the decision by Atos Healthcare to end its contract early, whether that contract will now be made public.
Answered by Lord Freud
A redacted copy of the Medical Services Contract between the Department for Work and Pensions and Atos Healthcare was placed in the House of Lords library on 14th September 2010.
The Health Services Category Team are currently undertaking the necessary contractual action following the mutual Termination of the Medical Services Contract with Atos and an updated version of the contract will be placed in the library by 30th July 2014.
Asked by: Lord Morrow (Democratic Unionist Party - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have made any assessment of the compliance of Atos Healthcare with the Human Rights Act 1998, particularly section 6, and the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, particularly Article 3; if so, what is that assessment; and whether all staff of that organisation are fully briefed and supplied with copies of the Act and Convention.
Answered by Lord Freud
The Department for Work and Pensions does not routinely assess Atos Healthcare's compliance with the Human Rights Act 1998 or the European Convention for Human Rights under its contracts with the Department. However, our contracts with Atos and all of our suppliers include obligations to comply with all legal requirements.