The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has awarded Atos a contract worth £10 million a year to continue providing IT services to support work capability assessments after it steps down as the main supplier next year.{jcomments on}
Atos is due to exit its controversial DWP contract for health and disability assessments by February next year, instead of the original end date in August.
The French multinational has come under fire for the number of work capability decisions that have been overturned and the firm recorded roughly 163 incidents of abuse or assault on staff in 2013.
The firm announced its intention to walk away from the contract in February and the government confirmed that Atos would exit the agreement early in March.
However this new contract means the firm will continue to provide the IT for the assessments until at least 2016, with allowances for it to be extended until 2020.
The contract, which the DWP described as an ‘interim arrangement’, was negotiated and set up without any competition.
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