Under heavy pressure from unions to rule as it did, the administration made its decision following a Labor Department assessment that public sector work, from cleaning streets to processing government forms, qualified as work under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

CNN: AllPolitics - States Must Pay Minimum Wage For Workfare

Department official Tony Murphy explained how the work capability assessment process was a "wide ranging" test consisting of 10 physical and seven mental, cognitive and intellectual descriptors.

BBC: Social Development Committee

The assessment centre in Cresta House, Alma Street, is run by Atos Healthcare for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and served by a lift.

BBC: Cresta House, Luton