Work Capability Assessment independent review – year one
On 29 June 2010 the Secretary of State appointed Professor Malcolm Harrington to undertake the first independent review.
We published his review on 23 November 2010, alongside the Government’s response to it. We published his interim report on the implementation of his Year 1 recommendations in May 2011.
Audio recording pilot
In his year one review Professor Harrington recommended piloting the audio recording of face-to-face assessments. The Department commissioned Atos to run a small pilot which was undertaken in the spring 2011. The findings are in the following report (published here in April 2012).
Interim report on year one recommendations
At the start of May 2011 the Minister for Employment asked Professor Harrington to provide an interim report on the implementation of his year one recommendations. This concludes that real progress has been made in implementing all of the recommendations.
- Professor Harrington’s interim report, May 2011 (65KB)
- Minister for Employment’s commissioning letter, May 2011 (76KB)
Year one review
We published the year one review on 23 November 2010.
Professor Harrington reviewed the fairness and effectiveness of the WCA. He set out a substantial series of recommendations to the Government based on the evidence he collected as part of the review. The main recommendations focus on:
- empowering and investing in Jobcentre Plus Decision Makers
- Jobcentre Plus taking control of the process and supporting individuals through it
- Atos employing “champions” at each Medical Examination Centre
- establishing a programme of work for the second review.
- Independent Review of the Work Capability Assessment – year one (401KB)
- Rich Text Format – Independent Review of the Work Capability Assessment – year one (706KB)
- Adolygiad annibynnol o’r Asesiad Gallu i Weithio (Welsh summary) (136KB)
The Government’s response to the year one review
The Government responded to Professor Harrington’s review on 23 November 2010. They welcomed the findings and recommendations of the review – fully endorsing and accepting his suggestions.
The Government response includes details of how and when we will implement the recommendations.
- Government’s response to the Independent Review of the Work Capability Assessment – Year 1 (250KB)
- Equality impact assessment for the response to the first Work Capability Assessment Independent Review (61KB)
