‘Exortionate payouts reward benefits assessors for failure’
PRIVATE companies carrying out controversial assessments for disability benefits are set to bank millions of pounds more than was budgeted for in their contracts, new figures suggest.
Labour accused the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) of “rewarding failure” by Atos and Capita, which look set to be paid more than £700m for their five-year contracts.
This compares with an original estimate of £512m for the contracts to carry out assessments for Personal Independence Payments (Pip).
Plaid Cymru described the sums as an “outrage” and described the assessment process as not just “inhumane” but “inefficient”.
The DWP said the assessment process for Pip is key to supporting claimants, and it has to balance effective support for the most vulnerable with getting the best value for the taxpayer.
Analysis by the Press Association shows Atos and Capita have already been paid £578m in relation to Pip since it launched in 2013.
This includes £257m in 2016, the highest year so far, according to the department’s monthly spending data.
But the three original call-off contracts for this work totalled £512m.
This figure was supposed to cover a five-year period, according to the original contract documents.
The contracts are due to run out in December.
With DWP having paid Atos and Capita an average of £19m a month over the past two years, the firms are set to be paid in excess of £700m
by the time the contracts hit the fiveyear mark.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Debbie Abrahams said: “It is beyond belief that this Tory Government is rewarding failure. The Pip process is in disarray and these private companies are receiving huge payouts in a time of extreme austerity... The Government needs to get an urgent grip on these extortionate payments to private companies, especially at a time when they are getting more and more assessments overturned in the courts.”
Shadow Welsh Secretary Christina Rees said the Conservative Government was “allowing these costs to spiral out of control but failing to protect vital services,” adding: “This is just another example of Tory failure, and proves once again that it is only Labour that will deliver a fair deal for Wales.”
Plaid Cymru AM Steffan Lewis said: “It is an outrage that the Tory government in Westminster is throwing millions of pounds at private companies... Not only is the current Pip system inhumane it is also inefficient... These latest figures strengthen Plaid Cymru’s argument that Wales should be given greater control over matters relating to social security so that fewer people in our communities are at the mercy of ill-judged policies pursued by the Tories in Westminster.”
The payouts by DWP totalled £198m in 2015, £91m in 2014 and £7m in 2013, the year Pip launched.
Figures released for January and February 2017 show the companies have been paid a further £25m this year.
Atos won two of the three original tenders – a £206.7m contract to carry out assessments in the North and Scotland, and a £183.9m contract for London and the South.
The other £121.6m contract for assessments in Central England and Wales was won by Capita.
More than 160,000 people initially denied Pip have had this decision overturned since the benefit launched in 2013, according to DWP figures, while Atos and Capita have been dogged by accusations of insensitive assessments.
Victoria Winckler of the Bevan Foundation described “real concerns” about the experiences of people in Wales.
She said: “Nearly 100,000 disabled people in Wales now get help through the Personal Independence Payment. The cash helps to pay for things like extra help at home, additional heating or laundry costs, or an adapted car. There are some real concerns about how claims for this benefit are handled. Some people have a long wait for their claim to be assessed.
“The wait time has thankfully fallen from five months to around six or even weeks on average, but that is still a long time if you’re struggling to make ends meet. And there are concerns about how accurate the assessments are too.
“In Wales more than half of all new claims for Pip are rejected and one in four people who were receiving Disability Living Allowance are not being awarded Pip. Yet if people appeal against the decision, the majority are successful and the original decision is overturned.
“Unfortunately, the often-poor experience of disabled claimants when going through a Pip assessment does not appear to be reflected in the sums paid to the assessors.”
A DWP spokeswoman said: “We are determined to provide claimants with the support that they need, and the effective assessment of people’s abilities is key to this.
“We routinely review our work to make sure that we focus our resources on the most viable options and deliver the most effective support for the most vulnerable in society, while also ensuring the best value for the taxpayer.”
A Capita spokeswoman said: “We were selected through a rigorous procurement process by the [DWP] to undertake Personal Independence Payment assessments in line with DWP’s clearly defined service specification.
“We are paid according to the number of quality controlled assessments we complete for DWP.”
THERE are many reasons why taxpayers will be disturbed to learn that companies contracted to carry out hugely controversial disability benefits assessments are on course to receive millions of pounds more than was originally budgeted.
This sounds like yet another example of how the government has engaged the private sector and ended up paying much more than it had planned.
An investigation by the Press Association has found that Atos and Capita are due to be paid more than £700m for five-year contracts when the original estimate was £512m.
Scandals involving public money are always alarming. This cash is taken from the wages of ordinary people, and governments have a duty to act as prudent stewards of the public purse.
But this fiasco will generate even deeper distress than normal.
There is no shortage of stories of how the benefits changes have brought anxiety into the lives of some of our country’s most vulnerable people.
Yes, there is a strong case that welfare reform is necessary. Yes, people should be helped into work so they can enjoy the financial and personal rewards that employment brings.
Yes, we should be glad that society’s attitudes to disability have changed so that people with physical challenges are increasingly welcomed into the workforce. And, yes, there are times when governments are wise to engage the private sector to ensure better efficiency in the delivery of services.
But multitudes of people of different political persuasions will nod in agreement when they hear the claim that the Department for Work and Pensions is “rewarding failure”.
Why is it that more than 160,000 people who were initially denied Personal Independence Payments have had this decision overturned since the benefit was launched in 2013? Are there many thousands of people who would also have had their decisions overturned if they had the energy and the encouragement to fight this battle?
Men and women whose lives would be transformed by greater support will find it galling to see millions of pounds going towards the private-sector companies that were fortunate enough to net these lucrative contracts.
Families who are braced for changes to child tax credits and the impact of the benefits freeze will also despair at such use of public funds at a time of austerity.
It is essential that the deficit is tackled, but ill-managed public expenditure will do nothing to put Britain back in the black. Our society will be the poorer if we have a deficit in compassion concerning how we deal with those who have the most to lose.
Many staff at the DWP, Atos and Capita will get up each day intent on doing the best job they can, hoping to help the men and women they come into contact with. There are times when daunting change may be needed to unlock the chance of a much better life, but this episode leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.