Parliamentary committee launches inquiry into DWP safeguarding after claimant deaths

The House of Commons work and pensions committee has announced a new inquiry into how the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) supports vulnerable benefit claimants and whether its approach to safeguarding needs to change.

The inquiry comes after years of controversy over deaths and suicides of often disabled people who have their benefits cut or stopped, with the DWP accused by disability activists of covering up reviews into the impact of its policies and procedures.

The number of Internal Process Reviews (IPRs) carried out by the DWP to investigate allegations of inadequate case handling that may have resulted in serious harm more than doubled in the three years from July 2019. There have also been a number of individual cases which have highlighted issues around safeguarding and the actions of DWP.

Vulnerable claimants may have difficulty in dealing with the demands of DWP processes and claim requirements as a result of their age, disability or being at risk of abuse or neglect. While the DWP have a number of measures in place to support and protect vulnerable people, such as IPRs, the department currently has no statutory safeguarding duty.

The committee held a one-off evidence session on how the DWP learns lessons from serious cases in July 2020, while the National Audit Office has published two reports reflecting on the issues. The inquiry will allow the committee to follow-up on the progress made by the DWP in the last three years.

Stephen Timms, chair of the work and pensions committee, said: ‘The steep rise in the number of reviews into internal processes raises serious questions as to whether DWP is doing enough to protect the wellbeing of the people who it is there to support.

‘Our inquiry will examine what DWP is doing to ensure benefits are accessible and claimants are protected from harm. It will also look at whether the department should have a statutory duty when it comes to safeguarding and how it learns lessons to ensure mistakes that affect some of the most vulnerable people in society are not repeated.’

The inquiry will focus on the DWP’s responsibilities and accountability, processes to ensure benefits are accessible, the DWP’s approaches to harm prevention, and reviewing failures in safeguarding.

Image: Josh Appel