4 THE BIG ISSUE IN THE NORTH · 27 FEB - 4 MAR 2012 N E W S current contract. We will monitor the success and take-up of this in six months time.” Atos confirmed the agreement. A spokesperson said: “Atos is happy to facilitate the recording of assessments should a claimant request it.” For some, however, the change has come too late. 54-year-old David Smith, who was forced into early retirement due to arthritis in his feet, knees and spine, told The Big Issue in the North he asked to have his assessment recorded last year – but Atos failed to provide it. He was subsequently deemed fit to work and is taking his case to appeal. Anxiety “It’s much too late for me,” Smith said. “I’m now in the situation where my benefits have been sanctioned and I’m going through the appeal process. I really object to the fact that having worked for 34 years, and paid my tax and national insurance for that whole time, I’m now treated as some sort of scrounger. You don’t have five bouts of surgery without a reason.” WCAs have been a source of much debate since April last year, when the coalition government began a process of putting 1.5 million people on disability benefits through them in a bid to slash claimant numbers. Some 11,000 people a week are currently undertaking the tests. In November, an investigation by the The Big Issue in the North (issue 901) reported that claimants seeking reform of the assessment system. “I think it will make Atos improve in regard to how they conduct the actual assessments and how they produce their reports,” he said. “What’s been happening often is that people go and have their assessment and the report doesn’t match up with their experience of it. So I think this will be a benefit for Atos as well as the claimant... it will be a safeguard for both sides.” Change too late He added: “The DWP and Atos now need to put this information on all their forms and on their website so that people know that they’ve got the right to have their assessment recorded.” The DWP confirmed that the change is effective immediately, and will be detailed formally by the government in a soon-to-be- published evaluation following a pilot study last year. A DWP spokesperson said: “There has been an agreement to accommodate requests from claimants to record their assessment using equipment available to Atos as part of their A protest against welfare reform for people with disabilties Homeless A group of young filmmakers are up for an award for their challenging examination of attitudes towards homelessness. Eighteen young women, from Hyde in Tameside, planned, filmed and edited the nine- minute piece, in a professionally mentored project organised by Women in Supported Housing (WISH). Some of the members, who are all aged between 16 and 25, have themselves experienced homelessness. In their short, simply entitled Homelessness , vox pop interviews with members of the public reveal the breadth of attitudes towards and misconceptions about people who are street homeless or vulnerably housed. Poignant One man claims homeless people are all simply lazy and unwilling to work, and suggests compulsory national service would be a solution for those without a roof over their head. But others are more sympathetic, acknowledging the complex reasons why people Disability campaigners have claimed a major victory after the government shifted its policy on making audio recordings during controversial work capability assessments. There have long been complaints that the tests, part of a coalition plan to cut the number of people claiming sickness benefits, produce inaccuracies and lack transparency. Previously the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) had a restrictive set of rules in place that prohibited all recordings – unless they were made by a “professional operator” who would have to be paid for by the claimant. ‘Great advancement’ Under the new policy the rules have been relaxed, with Atos, the private company paid £100 million a year by the government to deliver the work capability assessments (WCAs), made to provide a recording free of charge to anyone who requests it. Paul Smith, an activist who runs an online Atos support group, called the development a “great advancement” for Tapes roll for disability campaigners the system was causing severe stress and anxiety for disabled people. Some who contacted the magazine said they had made their own secret recordings of assessments because they had concerns about the accuracy of the process. A high number of Atos’s decisions are known to be incorrect. According to official figures, 40 per cent are overturned on appeal. Quality A series of recommendations to improve the assessments was made last year in a government- commissioned report by Professor Malcolm Harrington. He suggested that audio recordings could help drive up the quality of assessments. But during a parliamentary meeting earlier this month, MPs said many problems had not been resolved, criticising the BITN 916_04,05 (News) 24/2/12 10:21 Page 4