How life-changing assessments are farmed out to private firms

The move towards privatisation in a bid to cut costs has seeped into the state’s responsibility to care for vulnerable people, says May Bulman

Our investigation has prompted calls for a wider review into outsourcing

When a suicidal refugee and victim of modern slavery is deemed “no more vulnerable than an ordinary person”, something is clearly wrong. When this conclusion is relied upon as the basis for denying him housing support when he falls homeless, that decision-making process is surely flawed. When a judge rules against the local council that made the decision, saying the man is indeed vulnerable and overturning the refusal for housing support, the system is clearly failing.

Yet this system is widespread, as has been revealed by a joint investigation by The Independent and the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, on Wednesday. Our report showed that NowMedical, a private medical firm based in West London, has been paid millions of pounds in public money by councils and the Home Office to produce assessments on homeless individuals and asylum seekers, based solely on paper records.

This is despite the fact that, as far back as 2006, judges have warned councils against relying on the firm’s advice and overturned decisions determined by its reports, calling them “irrational” and criticising the company for not taking the time to meet or speak to those they are assessing.