The row about work capability assessments rumbles on. These are the tests that are meant to establish which recipients of incapacity benefit should be deemed fit and moved to a lower, more conditional rate. The Department for Work and Pensions insists the tests – administered by Atos, a private contractor – are an effective way of distinguishing between those genuinely unable to take on work and those who might simply have given up trying. Critics of the process allege it is a cynical device to shovel disabled and chronically ill people from a benefit that costs the Exchequer lots of money to one that costs less – without due regard for the personal circumstances and medical nuances of individual cases.
The accusation is that the government, confident of political cover in the form of the widespread assumption that many benefit claims are bogus, is saving money by targeting people unable to fight back and who mostly don’t vote Tory. The rebuttal is that the DWP is working hard to get everyone into work – which for many people currently receiving incapacity benefit would have a rehabilitative effect, restoring independence and self esteem. As one government advisor put it to me recently: “Which part of your progressive tradition says it is ok to just let people rot on benefits their whole lives?” (Of course, for the DWP “tough love” narrative to have a happy ending, there need to be enough jobs out there … )
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