Lib Dems: Atos and Capita don’t deserve £700m DWP contracts

The Liberal Democrats have criticised the Department for Work and Pensions after ministers found themselves having to increase the value of contracts to Atos and Capita to £700m a year for their controversial assessments for disability benefits. This is way over the £512m budget.

Celia Thomas, Liberal Democrat spokesperson for disability, said:

“Before these companies are given more money for benefit assessments, they need to give much better value for money than they do at present.

“In particular, the PIP reassessments from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) are a complete lottery for claimants, with two-thirds of these PIP claimants winning their appeals.

“Poor assessments have resulted in many disabled people losing their Motability cars for which they have later become eligible on appeal. The DWP has its priorities backwards. It should look at the poor quality of many of these assessments before giving Atos and Capita more money.”