The below Parliamentary question was asked by Sheila Gilmore on 2014-06-04.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer to the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West 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.
Mike Penning
The information requested is shown in the table below.
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 JCP decision differs from Atos recommendation
May-10 900
Jun-10 900
Jul-10 1,100
Aug-10 1,200
Sep-10 1,200
Oct-10 1,900
Nov-10 2,600
Dec-10 2,300
Jan-11 2,700
Feb-11 3,100
Mar-11 3,700
Apr-11 2,800
May-11 3,100
Jun-11 2,800
Jul-11 2,100
Aug-11 1,900
Sep-11 1,600
Oct-11 1,400
Nov-11 1,500
Dec-11 1,200
Jan-12 1,800
Feb-12 2,300
Mar-12 2,700
Apr-12 2,300
May-12 2,600
Jun-12 2,700
Jul-12 3,200
Aug-12 3,200
Sep-12 3,800
Oct-12 4,600
Nov-12 4,700
Dec-12 3,700
Jan-13 4,800
Feb-13 4,400
Mar-13 4,000
Apr-13 4,100
May-13 4,900
Jun-13 5,300
Data 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.
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.