Benefit tests for disabled people are being cancelled every week Thousands of tests on disabled people to assess their benefit entitlements have been cancelled every week by the companies appointed […]

Thousands of tests on disabled people to assess their benefit entitlements have been cancelled every week by the companies appointed to carry them out, ministers have admitted.

“It’s unbearable for people at the bottom to be left in the lurch at such short notice” Frank Field MP The i politics newsletter cut through the noise Email address is invalid Email address is invalid Thank you for subscribing! Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription.

The Government was warned by a senior MP last night that the vulnerable claimants were being left without cash as a result, and even forced to rely on foodbanks, because of the high levels of inefficiency.

New figures revealed that around 2.1m appointments for work capability assessment tests have been cancelled in the last five years.

Cancellations by contractors

They included about 940,000 cancellations by the contractors appointed to carry them out – equivalent to more than 3,500 a week.

Claimants of employment support allowance (ESA) are required to undergo the tests before they qualify for the benefit.

Frank Field, the chairman of the work and pensions committee, said key reasons for appointments being scrapped were staff shortages and lack of equipment to record the assessments.

He told the i : “It’s unbearable for people at the bottom to be left in the lurch at such short notice. “To have so few pieces of recording equipment available has bestowed on them the status of a holy relic, upon which the well-being of so many vulnerable and disabled people hinges.”

He has protested over the cancellation levels in a letter to Stephen Crabb, the Work and Pensions Secretary, urging him to take action to make the testing far more efficient.

‘Considerable hardship among vulnerable groups’

“‘My recent constituency casework suggests that this unwarranted extension to the processing of ESA claims could be causing considerable hardship among vulnerable groups,” he wrote.

“Indeed, many food banks last year reported that the delay in setting up a new ESA claim accounts for a significant proportion of people relying on food parcels.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokeswoman said: “We have made progress to improve contracted-out health and disability assessments. “However, more work is to be done, and we remain committed to working with our providers to ensure claimants get the best possible level of service.”

The conduct of the tests was originally conducted by Atos, which quit the contract early amid heavy criticism of its performance.

A spokesman for Maximus, the company which took over the tests last year, said: “The majority of appointments are cancelled by the customer. We are currently carrying out over 55,000 face-to-face assessments each month and try extremely hard to avoid cancellations.

“With a high number of customers who do not attend their appointment it is often necessary to make scheduling arrangements at short notice. Wherever we have to it is for a variety of reasons including unforeseen circumstances.”