An internal memo has revealed that the Department of Work and Pensions has stopped outsourcing company Atos from carrying out repeat assessments on people currently claiming work-related disability benefits.

The department’s staff have been told to leave all current employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants on their benefit, without repeat medical checks, until another company can be found to do work capability assessments (WCAs).

The Benefits and Work website reported that it obtained the memo via a Freedom of Information request.

Reported by the Independent. You can read the full story here. 

I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.