Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what sanctions his Department has imposed on Atos in response to delays in medical examinations in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
We have taken a robust approach to managing the contract with Atos Healthcare and have applied financial remedies such as service credits and awarded fees where and when appropriate.
From 1 March 2015, MAXIMUS Health and Human Services will take over the contract to deliver Work Capability Assessments.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many medical examinations in disability cases dealt with by Atos required a doctor in (a) Grimsby and (b) the rest of England in the last 12 months.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
In 2014, there were 29,821 assessments completed nationally that required a doctor to undertake a Work Capability Assessment. 121 of these were completed for the Grimsby postcodes DN15 to DN20, DN31 to DN41 and DN55.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average delay has been in medical examinations of disability cases conducted by Atos in (a) Grimsby and (b) the rest of England in the last 12 months; what the main causes were of such delays; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mark Harper - Secretary of State for Transport
Official statistics for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) processing times are not readily available and to provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.
Asked by: Austin Mitchell (Labour - Great Grimsby)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many contracts signed by his Department with suppliers of services or consultants include a clause providing that if the contract is abrogated by the Government, the provider or consultant will be compensated for lost income since 2010.
Answered by Steve Webb
This information is not collated centrally. However, since January 2011, as part of the Government’s transparency programme, details of procurement opportunities, tender documents and contracts worth over £10,000 are published online on Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder), and the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) also publishes details of its contracts on its web site (http://ccs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/).