Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations
(asked on 17th July 2017) - View Source
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish (a) the value and duration of all contracts his Department holds with contractors for the delivery of work capability assessments and personal independence payment assessments and (b) the amount spent on each contract including (i) underspends and (ii) overspends in each year for which data is available.
The Department holds one contract for the delivery of Work Capability Assessments (and other smaller assessments) which commenced in March 2015 for the period of 3 years, with an option to extend for up to two further years. The estimated contract value at the point of contract award for the original 3 year term (1 March 2015 – 28 February 2018) was:
Supplier | Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA - a MAXIMUS company) |
Original contract price | £595m |
Contract Year 1 (to 28 February 2016) = £126.8m (excluding £13.9m set up costs which are spread over the life of the contract).
Contract Year 2 (to 28 February 2017) = £150.6m.
Overall, the Department’s spend against this contract is lower than anticipated at contract award due to a number of factors including service credits, efficiency savings delivered and changes in the target cost agreed following small changes in requirements.
The Department holds 3 contracts for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) assessments, which commenced in July 2012 for a period of 5 years with the option to extend for a period of up to a further 2 years (which the Department exercised its rights to). The contract value for the original 5 year term (1 July 2012 to 31 July 2017) was:
Contract | Lot 1 | Lot 2 | Lot 3 |
Supplier | Atos | Capita | Atos |
Region | NW England, NE England, Scotland, Isle of Man | Central England, Wales | London, Southern England |
Original contract price | £206.7m | £121.6m | £183.9m |
Total spend against these contracts is as follows:
Contract Year 1 (to 31st July 2013) = £0.8m
Contract Year 2 (to 31st July 2014) = £54.8m
Contract Year 3 (to 31st July 2015) = £211.4m
Contract Year 4 (to 31st July 2016) = £236.5m
PIP contracts are paid on the basis of outcomes, primarily the number of assessment reports produced, with service credits related to performance. There is not therefore a single overspend / underspend figure recognised for these contracts over the referenced contract period.