01 April 2004
Better assessment of those applying for incapacity and disability benefits is saving the taxpayer £50m a year, the Public Accounts Committee has found.
In a follow-up report published this week to a critical assessment made in 2001, the committee said the takeover of medical assessment by Schlumberger Medical Services in that year has produced significant improvements.
The MPs said: 'For incapacity benefit, the backlog of examinations, which reached 368,000 cases in 2001, has almost been eliminated.'
However, committee chair Edward Leigh was concerned that there has been no significant reduction in the number of appeals lodged each month.
PFapr2004
