Work Capability Assessment independent review – year two
The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) was introduced in October 2008 to assess entitlement to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Section 10 of the Welfare Reform Act 2007 commits the Secretary of State to lay an independent report before Parliament each year for the first five years of operation.
Improving the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) will be an ongoing process to ensure that the system works as well as possible for people going through it.
The short address for this page is www.dwp.gov.uk/wca-review
Year two review
Professor Harrington was reappointed to lead the second independent review in 2011. His second review sets out a series of recommendations to the Government based on the evidence he collected as part of the review and which build on complement the recommendations from his first review. The main recommendations focus on:
- Introducing checks on benefit decisions to ensure fairness and consistency.
- Working with disability groups to help develop guidance for Atos healthcare professionals and Decision Makers.
- Improved support and communications for people who move onto Jobseeker’s Allowance to make sure they get the help they need.
- Regularly publishing data on performance and quality to improve the transparency of the face-to face assessment.
We published the year two review on 24 November 2011.
PDF version
Rich Text Format
Welsh summary
The Government’s response to the year two review
The Government responded to Professor Harrington’s review on 24 November 2011.It welcomed the findings and recommendations of the review – endorsing his suggestions.
The Government response includes a detailed response to each of Professor Harrington’s 23 recommendations.
Year two call for evidence (now closed)
As part of his year two independent review of the Work Capability Assessment, Professor Harrington launched a call for evidence. The call for evidence ran from 14 July 2011 until 16 September 2011.
