Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what penalties his Department is able to levy on workplace capability assessment providers who miss targets.

The number of Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit Reassessment Work Capability Assessment referrals to Atos Healthcare in each of the last three years is as follows:

01/06/2011 to 31/05/2012 – 1,553,839

01/06/2012 to 31/05/2013 – 1,742,593

01/06/2013 to 31/05/2014 – 1,495,159

For the period October 2008 to May 2014, there have been 3,431,528 Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit Reassessment cases processed by Atos Healthcare within 35 days.

The latest (April 2014) national Employment and Support Allowance Work Capability Assessment Actual Average Clearance Time (AACT) is 118.9 days.

There are a range of financial remedies available within the Medical Services contract to address service level failure. However this is a matter of commercial in confidence between the Department of Work and Pensions and its supplier Atos Healthcare.

The number of Employment and Support Allowance and Incapacity Benefit Allowance cases that were referred to Atos Healthcare processed and returned within 35 days in each of the last three years is as follows:

a). UK

01/06/2011 to 31/05/2012 – 767,674

01/06/2012 to 31/05/2013 – 1,073,987

01/06/2013 to 31/05/2014 – 249,305

b). Scotland

01/06/2011 to 31/05/2012 – 97,951

01/06/2012 to 31/05/2013 – 133,923

01/06/2013 to 31/05/2014 – 58,326

c). West Lothian Local Authority Area

The information requested is not available