| Incapacity and disability benefits costing over £18 billion a year are paid to some of the most vulnerable members of society. Part of the test of eligibility for these benefits is a medical assessment. Some of the evidence for these assessments is provided by claimants' own doctors, but over 1 million medical reports a year are provided under contract by Schlumberger Medical Services. In 1998, the Department for Work and Pensions contracted with SEMA Group to provide this service.
In 2001, we took evidence on the service, and found that bottlenecks throughout the system were resulting in delays in paying some benefits and continued payment to people who were no longer eligible, and a highly variable quality of service to claimants. Our subsequent Report[1] (27th Report of Session 2001-02) expected improvements in the speed of benefit processing, the quality of medical evidence and the quality of service to the public.
In April 2001, SEMA were subject to an agreed takeover by Schlumberger to form SchlumbergerSema (Schlumberger from 2003). The Department extended the contract from August 2003, when it was due to expire, to 2005, provided Schlumberger could demonstrate service improvements. The Department and Schlumberger introduced new contractual targets. The Department is due to let a new contract in August 2005.
On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General,[2] we took evidence from the Department on the extent to which performance had improved since 2001, and whether the Department and Schlumberger could carry out medical assessments more efficiently. We examined the quality of medical evidence in the light of the continuing high numbers of successful appeals for these benefits, and whether improvements had been made in the standards of customer care.
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