The following details have been supplied by the TUC:
As private firm Atos nears the end of its highly controversial stint assessing benefits claimants on their fitness for work, civil service union PCS says the work should be brought in-house.
The union says the work capability assessment (WCA) is fundamentally flawed and designed not to support people into employment, but to cut their benefit entitlement. It adds this is a view shared by the British Medical Association, disabled people's organisations and more than 120 MPs.
PCS points to a report last month from the Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland that linked a woman’s suicide to a benefit cut following a test by Atos. Her GP and psychiatrist, who unlike Atos did not believe she was fit for work, were not consulted. PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "These privatised work assessments are fundamentally flawed and designed to harass vulnerable people and take their benefits away, rather than provide support and guidance. Doctors, MPs and disabled people all believe the tests should be scrapped so, instead of replacing the failed Atos with another profit-hungry provider, the government should bring the work in-house and invest in it properly."
