The Guardian and the Daily Mirror have run stories on the amounts paid to ATOS and Capita by the DWP to run their “fitness to work” test. Both companies have been heavily criticised for the way they have run the scheme and, in particular, the large number of claimants (the Mirror claims this figure is 61%) who had benefits withdrawn only to win subsequent appeals against the decisions.
Both companies were paid on a payments-by-results basis, primarily tied to number of claimants moved off benefits. The costs of administering the appeals process has fallen largely on taxpayers.
