End of F2F interviews component of WCA ?

Are the Mods able to verify, or at least clarify, the report that appeared in “The Daily Record” on 7th April. I have not come across similar reports in other papers or news media. Here’s the link:

www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news...rapped-after-3384060

The text of the article reads as follows:

Back to work interviews to be scrapped after experts blast the demeaning assessments as a waste of time

UNPOPULAR face-to-face interviews are to be axed as part of a Government shake-up of their Work Capability Assessment following recommendations set out by a chief medical officer recruited to review WCA testing. Dr. Paul Litchfield has branded the face-to-face interviews a waste of time DEMEANING interviews designed to force sick and disabled people back to work are set to be scrapped after experts branded them a waste of time. The unpopular face-to-face interviews will be sidelined in a shake-up of the Government’s ­controversial work capability assessment. The move aims to streamline the application process, address a huge backlog of claims, reduce the number of appeals and cut taxpayers’ costs. If the plan goes ahead, the system would mean less input from companies such as Atos, who last month pulled out of a£500million contract to carry out WCA tests. The new system would give a bigger role to civil servants who will gather written evidence from applicants and their doctors. The plan follows recommendations made by Dr Paul Litchfield, chief medical officer at BT, who was asked by the Government to review the WCA process. In his 100-page report, he blamed the face-to-face tests for delays in processing claims. The Department for Work and Pensions, said: “Expediting the process will reduce the uncertainty faced by claimants, improve outcomes for those not eligible for employment and support allowance and reduce the consequent burden on taxpayers.” Four out of five applicants currently have to attend interviews in which they are asked intimate details in order to assess if they are fit to work. Labour MP Tom Greatrex, a fierce critic of Atos, said he still has reservations about any new scheme. He added: “The WCA process hasn’t worked for years and the Government have failed to address it. “The experience is demeaning, causes anxiety and 40 per cent of the tests are overturned on appeal which demonstrates it’s not fair or accurate.”

Thanks for reading and any observations.

MW

Well, it did sound rather too good to be true!


Thanks!

MW

Reading this article is was temporarily transported into a utopian parallel universe where all my wildest dreams and fantasies had come true........................I am awake now

Since I read Gordon's reply I have been told that links to the quoted report are all over Twitter. Misinformation about the WCA is obviously not to claimants' advantage.

Mari