Mo Stewart summarises research on the failures of disability welfare reforms.
Author: Mo Stewart
Mo Stewart writes in her research report:
“The start of another New Year is for many people no reason to celebrate, especially for the chronically ill and disabled community who are unable to work and who are dependent upon the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) for their only income via the imposed Work Capability Assessment (WCA). Contracted to the unaccountable private sector, originally Atos Healthcare and now the Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS), where WCAs are conducted by various companies in different regions of the country, including the notorious American corporate giant Maximus who conduct the WCA in Scotland and Northern England. Other private sector companies contracted to the HAAS include Capita, Serco and Ingeus UK Limited at a cost of £165 million to the DWP , who represent the British taxpayer. The WCA is a fatally flawed non-medical functional assessment model which totally disregards clinical need. It has been successfully used by the DWP since 2008 to limit access to the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) long-term disability benefit, now being replaced by the health element of Universal Credit, as the politics of fear accompanies any enforced contact with the DWP for those in greatest need.”
Read and download the full report (pdf) in your browser, link below.
The publisher is Citizen Network. No One Held to Account © Mo Stewart 2026.
disability, politics, social justice, tax and benefits, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Paper
