Serco launches probe into benefit assessments boss who tweeted ‘help is for weak people’ and backed EDL

The senior private sector executive responsible for managing disability benefit assessments across much of southern England posted “offensive” and “cruel” social media messages attacking disabled people and supporting far-right activist Tommy Robinson, Disability News Service can reveal.

Andy Bowie is a director of Serco, the outsourcing company that carries out work capability assessments and personal independence payment assessments on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) across much of the south and south-west of England.

As director of employment, assessments and training, he is responsible for overseeing Serco’s delivery of assessments, and he has been with the company for more than 20 years.

But Disability News Service (DNS) can reveal that Bowie was responsible for disablist, homophobic and misogynistic posts on Twitter (now known as X) in the early years of his time with the company, as well as expressing support for far-right activist Tommy Robinson.

Shortly after DNS alerted Serco to the concerns this week, Bowie deleted his X account, although DNS has kept images of the posts.

Serco has now launched an investigation.

The “shocking” posts were passed to DNS by a disabled person and his wife who have “had experience of this company and its appalling assessment process”.

The husband said they provided a stark contrast to the image Bowie portrays on his professional social media profile.

He said: “I went through what we both felt was a dreadful assessment and experience with that company.

“When you’re in that position, dignity means a lot.

“I was already feeling vulnerable, so reading posts like that left me in utter disbelief and shock.

“We’ve never had any dealings with the man personally, but when someone is responsible for a service like that affecting disabled people with health problems, those sorts of comments do make you wonder.

“They were very cruel and nasty.”

Bowie’s social media activity will raise fresh questions about the people and businesses contracted by DWP to carry out the assessments that determine whether disabled people receive the support they need.

Bowie claims in his LinkedIn profile that his focus “is on leading large-scale, high-impact public services that make a genuine difference to people’s lives, supporting individuals into work, helping them develop new skills, and delivering critical health assessment services that enable access to essential benefits”.

But, despite now being the senior executive overseeing DWP assessments for large parts of the country, in May 2014 he tweeted: “Help is for weak people.”

In another post, in September 2011, he publicly criticised someone who had been hit by a train, posting on Twitter (now known as X): “Great some dickhead playing on the train tracks been hit so all trains have to stop #virgintrains just run the fucker over again.”

The same month, he celebrated far-right activist Tommy Robinson – who at the time was leader of the English Defence League (EDL) – avoiding arrest, posting: “Seems Tommy R is safe and having a beer that will upset all the excited Lefties no arrest that they partied over #EDL.”

In 2012, he posted on Twitter in response to an episode of Channel 4’s 999: What’s Your Emergency: “Am stuck on the commode for three days hahaha #fatbitch.”

And in November 2012, he responded to an episode of Question Time, featuring singer and activist Charlotte Church: “#bbcqt fucking struggling here wiv that stupid thick bint on it.”

Earlier that year, he had commented on the Question Time appearance of the gay, right-wing historian David Starkey: “Starkey maybe gay but talks some proper sense #bbcqt.”

After being shown his posts, a Serco spokesperson told DNS this week: “We have been made aware of historic social media posts that fundamentally go against our values.

“We take this extremely seriously and have launched an investigation to establish the full facts.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further while this process is ongoing.”

DWP declined to say if it was taking any action, despite Bowie being in charge of work capability assessments and personal independence payment assessments across large parts of the country.

Instead, the department said it was for Serco to comment on its own staffing matters.

But a DWP spokesperson said in a statement: “We strongly condemn the use of offensive and harmful language targeting anyone, including minority groups and vulnerable people.”