The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) is moving to find alternative suppliers to Atos, according to leaked documents, for its work assessment contract.

The documents leaked to the Guardian reveal that the government is looking to create increased competition by bringing other private firms into the £500 million contract currently operated by Atos Healthcare.

The private organisations will be used to provide “further capacity” to the system, and then moving to “take over the whole contract” after the current contract expires in 2015.

The move comes after the disability minster Mike Penning acknowledged that one company having a monopoly over the assessment services was “flawed”.

A Atos spokesperson said: “We recognise that many people have strong feelings about work capability assessments. The constant flow of criticism inevitably has an impact on our staff”.

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