Some of this rehashes material that has already been on Vox Political but it is valuable information and it’s always worthwhile to have reminders of the situation.
Last year, ten thousand six hundred sick and disabled people died within weeks of losing their benefits, after Atos assessed them as ‘fit to work’. Thierry Breton, boss of IT firm Atos, has just been awarded a £280k pay rise, bringing his total remuneration to £2.3m a year. While disabled people were hounded to death for a maximum of £131.50 Disability Living Allowance a week, the head of the business chasing them earned £44,000 a week. This is not austerity, it is travesty.
The Bogus Case for Mr Atos
Atos didn’t just enter with the Coalition. They have been the sole provider of medical assessments for the DWP since 1998. While Atos is the bulldog, it is the ministers of the DWP who hold the leash – and this government have given a firm order to attack.
The government has mandated that every single person claiming…
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Reblogged this on The SKWAWKBOX Blog and commented:
Once again we see how the government is prepared to reward a complete lack of performance (over 40% of Atos decisions overturned on appeal) with huge amounts of money, while depriving vulnerable, already-struggling people of the pittance on which they rely. In this case, it’s even worse because this guy is earning vast sums, in part, FOR depriving people of the pittance..
I’m going to contact Lynn Paine, one of the Directors of Atos. She is Senior Associate Dean of Harvard Business School. (see http://www.4-traders.com/ATOS-4612/news/ATOS-Annual-General-Shareholders-Meeting-16914965/)
Objecting to Thierry Breton’s £280k pay rise is the wrong tact, in my opinion. The key issue is whether the Atos contract with the DWP is ethical.
There is a factual error in the piece, specifically this contention by the Scriptonite Daily blogger: “The government’s own statistics show that between 2010 and 2011 10,600 sick and disabled people died within six weeks of losing their benefits after being assessed as ‘fit to work’ by Atos and the DWP.”
The letter below from MP Tom Greatrex’s office clarifies the matter:
Dear Samuel,
Thanks for your email to Tom Greatrex MP.
I have had a look at the statistics from the DWP, and asked the House of Commons Library for their assessment. I had initially thought that these figures showed that 10,600 had their claims ended and then died within 6 weeks. However, the Library advised that in the vast majority of cases people died and then their claim was ended within 6 weeks as a result of their deaths rather than the other way round.
The wording of the DWP’s statistical release appears to be quite poor, which may have resulted in confusion. In any event, Tom has tabled some Written Parliamentary Questions on this issue to get a bit of clarity on this issue.
Thanks for getting in touch.
Regards,
David
David Ross
Office of Tom Greatrex MP
Rutherglen & Hamilton West| Shadow Energy Minister
Room 4/13 | Norman Shaw South | House of Commons | London SW1A 0AA
T: 0207 219 8974 |E: Dave.Ross@parliament.uk | W: http://www.tomgreatrex.org
Thanks for clearing that up. The 10,600 within six weeks figure has been puzzling me for a while.
Atos Boss earns £44k a WEEK.. Think that’s wrong…. none of the B@$ta&ds “Earn” anything, they either rob it or handed it.
Yeah… I made this exact point to the Scriptonite Daily blog (which is where I found the article). I think everybody agrees on it!