Employment and Support Allowance

Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 11 June 2014.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Sheila Gilmore Sheila Gilmore Labour, Edinburgh East

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer to the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Tom Greatrex) of 21 March 2012, Official Report, column 705W on Atos Healthcare, on how many occasions a Jobcentre Plus decision-maker did not follow the advice of an Atos-approved healthcare professional when making a decision on the eligibility for employment and support allowance in each month since May 2010.

Photo of Mike Penning Mike Penning The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions

The information requested is shown in the following table.

The number of occasions where the JCP decision maker’s final decision was different to the advice given by the Atos healthcare professional—May 2010 to June 2013
Month/year JCP decision differs from Atos recommendation
2010  
May 900
June 900
July 1,100
August 1,200
September 1,200
October 1,900
November 2,600
December 2,300
2011:  
January 2,700
February 3,100
March 3,700
April 2,800
May 3,100
June 2,800
July 2,100
August 1,900
September 1,600
October 1,400
November 1,500
December 1,200
2012:  
January 1,800
February 2,300
March 2,700
April 2,300
May 2,600
June 2,700
July 3,200
August 3,200
September 3,800
October 4,600
November 4,700
December 3,700
2013:  
January 4,800
February 4,400
March 4,000
April 4,100
May 4,900
June 5,300
Notes: 1. These figures do not include work capability assessments completed on incapacity benefit (IB) reassessment claims. 2. The table includes initial assessments only and the figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. Sources: DWP’s benefit administration datasets covering new claims (starting from 27 October 2008); Atos Healthcare’s face to face assessment, ESA85 data and limited capability for work questionnaire, ESA50 data; and HMCTS’s appeals caseload data.

Does this answer the above question?

Yes0 people think so

No2 people think not

Would you like to ask a question like this yourself? Use our Freedom of Information site.