The Work and Pensions Committee is holding a final oral evidence session for its inquiry into Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and Work Capability Assessments (WCA).
Present for the Department for Work and Pensions are:
- Rt Hon Mike Penning MP, Minister of State for Disabled People
- Jason Feeney CBE, Benefits Director
- James Bolton, Deputy Director, Health and Wellbeing Directorate
- Iain Walsh, Deputy Director, Working Age Benefits Division
The session is considering:
- The effectiveness of the WCA, including the findings of the Evidence Based Review
- Key concerns about the delivery of the WCA by Atos, and how these issues may be resolved with the new provider
- The ESA decision-making process
- ESA outcomes and reassessments
- Mandatory reconsideration and appeals
- The interaction between ESA and Universal Credit
You can view this session as it happens or from the start at http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=15504
Note: The Work and Pensions Committee also held an ESA/WCA evidence on Monday 9 June.
The witnesses were:
- Lisa Coleman, Senior Vice President, Health Market, Atos
- Dr Angela Graham, Clinical Director, Atos Healthcare
- Helen Hall, Head of Communications and Customer Relations, Atos Healthcare
The session considered:
- Atos’s role in the process before the face to face assessment and claimants’ experience of the process
- The design and delivery of the WCA
- The contract for delivering the WCA, including the relationship between quality and productivity, and Atos’s early exit from the contract
- The ESA decision-making process, including outcomes and appeals
- Future delivery of the WCA
You can view this session at http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=15486