WCAs ‘Set To Be Scrapped’

DEMEANING interviews designed to force sick and disabled people back to work are set to be scrapped after experts branded them a waste of time.

The unpopular face-to-face interviews will be sidelined in a shake-up of the Government’s ­controversial work capability assessment.

The move aims to streamline the application process, address a huge backlog of claims, reduce the number of appeals and cut taxpayers’ costs.

If the plan goes ahead, the system would mean less input from companies such as Atos, who last month pulled out of a £500million contract to carry out WCA tests. The new system would give a bigger role to civil servants who will gather written evidence from applicants and their doctors.

The plan follows recommendations made by Dr Paul Litchfield, chief medical officer at BT, who was asked by the Government to review the WCA process.

In his 100-page report, he blamed the face-to-face tests for delays in processing claims. The Department for Work and Pensions, said: “Expediting the process will reduce the uncertainty faced by claimants, improve outcomes for those not eligible for employment and support allowance and reduce the consequent burden on taxpayers.”

Four out of five applicants currently have to attend interviews in which they are asked intimate details in order to assess if they are fit to work.

Labour MP Tom Greatrex, a fierce critic of Atos, said he still has reservations about any new scheme.

He added: “The WCA process hasn’t worked for years and the Government have failed to address it.

“The experience is demeaning, causes anxiety and 40 per cent of the tests are overturned on appeal which demonstrates it’s not fair or accurate.”