Two private firms are set to pocket hundreds of millions of pounds more for running disability benefit tests - despite a torrent of complaints.

Tory ministers were accused of "rewarding" Atos and Capita tonight after letting them assess people for Personal Independence Payments (PIP) for two more years.

The outsourcing giants, paid more than £600million to assess people for PIP since 2013, previously revealed they had never met their target for 97% of tests to be "acceptable".

More than 100,000 people have won appeals against their assessments.

Yet ministers today revealed they plan to extend the firms' PIP contracts for two years, to July 2021, to ensure "stability".

Lib Dem Work and Pensions spokesman Stephen Lloyd warned this was "rewarding" the firms "despite their shocking performance", adding: "PIP tests should be taken out of the hands of the corporate behemoths."

Parkinson’s UK spokeswoman Laura Cockram said the charity was "disappointed" the contracts had been extended despite a "broken system".

Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Margaret Greenwood said PIP assessments are "clearly failing disabled people" and the contract extension was "staggering".

She added: “The next Labour government would abolish the current PIP assessment process and end outsourcing contracts to private companies.”

Fury as Tory Esther McVey dismisses MPs for "screaming" about disability benefits

MS Society spokeswoman Genevieve Edwards said: "Extending the current contracts must not drag out a system that doesn’t make sense."

Scope spokesman James Taylor added: "The Government needs to drastically overhaul the PIP assessment so that it works for disabled people, not against them."

It is the second time Atos and Capita have had their contracts lengthened.

They were extended from December 2017 to 31 July 2019. The new proposed extension would see them expire in around July 2021.

However the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was praised for announcing the PIP IT system will brought back in-house.

The DWP is also launching a pilot scheme to record people's PIP assessments to ensure they are fair and accountable.

Frank Field, chair of the Commons Work and Pensions Committee, said: "The Government is making the important first steps to enable it to get out of a hole of its own making.

(Image: Rex Features)

"Having the capacity to bring assessments back in house will put it in a far stronger position to turn the screws on its hitherto failing contractors, in the interests of claimants and all taxpayers.

"This should serve as notice for Atos and Capita to start delivering, or else."

Disabilities Minister Sarah Newton told MPs in a written statement: "We have seen improvements in the overall quality of assessments since 2015.

"But we recognise there is still more to do to deliver the high quality of service those claiming PIP rightly expect.

"We will continue to work closely with stakeholder groups and our Assessment Providers to improve the quality of claimant communications, assessments, decision making and the overall claimant experience.

(Image: UK Parliament)

"It is vital for claimants that we continue to have a stable service.

"My Department therefore, intends to explore options to extend the current contracts for approximately two years as this will better allow for a stable transition to any new provision.

"At the same time we will look to enable more providers to deliver PIP by developing a DWP owned IT system.

"Throughout this period we will continue to focus on improving the service and the experience of claimants and offering the best value for money for the taxpayer."

(Image: Jack Taylor)

It comes after welfare chief Esther McVey promised to reform disability benefit tests following a damning review in December.

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Watchdog Paul Gray said soaring appeal rates were “clearly eroding trust” and claimants found the process “confusing” and “stressful”.

He added there were inconsistencies between Atos' and Capita's method of testing people.