The Times is reporting that the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments, better known as Maximus, has doubled its profits from carrying out ESA assessments.
According to the Times, Maximus made a profit of £26 million in the year to September 2017, double the profits it made in the preceding year and representing a rise from 8.4 to 16.1 in its profit margin.
Maximus says the cash has been earned because it has been hitting volume performance targets.
However, as we revealed back in December 2017, Maximus have never met their targets for the proportion of reports that are deemed unacceptable. In October 2017, 7.9% of reports were judged to be unacceptable, well above the target of 5%.
Frank Field, chair of the commons work and pensions committee, told the Times that the committee had heard “appalling evidence about the shoddy work carried out by contractors, including Maximus, that caused real suffering to some of the most vulnerable people”.
He added: “With contractors raking in jaw-dropping profits for sub-standard work, the government will surely want to look at whether assessments would be better delivered in-house.”
You can read the full story on the Times website (paywall)
