I’m not sure if this is well-known already.
The new Scottish Social Security agency have confirmed in an FOI response that they have already paid over £200k in a private contact to Capita.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/628400/response/1505722/attach/14/FOI.19.02692%20Final%20Response.pdf
Capita is of course one of the infamous for-profit companies that is responsible for the disastrous system of PIP assessments that the Scottish Government was supposedly keen to be moving away from.
The contract is for recruitment to new roles in the agency: both the shortlisting of applicants, and assessment of candidates (I take this to mean interview but it may be an intermediate step?).
While this is not a ‘disability assessment’, I would’ve thought it does beg the question why Social Security Scotland deems it acceptable to cede any influence over the appointment of the staff who will in fact go on to be responsible for the delivery of assessments and decision-making.
Some third-sector organisations have already raised concerns with SSS that the application process has been inaccessible to people with different disabilities.
Politically, this contract is a surprise. Perhaps they thought because it’s not ATOS, the sole provider of disability assessments in Scotland, and because it’s recruitment, paying significant public funds from the very first Scottish social security budget to a private company wouldn’t matter.
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/628400/response/1505722/attach/14/FOI.19.02692%20Final%20Response.pdf