A legal duty to look after vulnerable people who are claiming benefits must be introduced at the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) after a string of deaths, a group of MPs has said.
Ministers should introduce the statutory duty to prevent people from dying or coming to harm as a result of mistakes in the welfare system, the Commons Work and Pensions Committee said in its latest report.
The report comes after a number of vulnerable people died following their interaction with the benefits system.
In one case highlighted by MPs, Errol Graham starved to death in 2018 months after his disability benefit payments were stopped.
He had been suffering severe mental health problems and his out-of-work disability benefits were wrongly stopped, leaving him without any income.
In another case, Laura Winham, 38, lay dead in her flat for three years after her disability benefits were cut off and she stopped buying food.
The DWP cut off her benefits when Disability Living Allowance was moved over to the Personal Independence Payment (PIP). They sent Ms Winham a letter about the change in February 2016 and asked her to reapply for PIP, and sent a follow-up letter the following month when they received no response.
A coroner concluded earlier this year that there was a “lost opportunity to proactively investigate” why Ms Winham had not responded.
A statutory duty of care would be a “significant undertaking for the DWP”, the MPs’ report acknowledged, but it claimed the current approach is not working, and there are a “stubbornly high” number of cases where vulnerable clients have come to harm.
Some 240 internal reviews have been started by the DWP since the 2020-21 year, into cases where there has been serious harm, or where there are allegations that the department’s actions have led to death or harm.
However, the committee suggested the “true scale of deaths and serious harms of vulnerable claimants is currently unknown”.
The report also named Philippa Day, who was 27 when she took her own life. She had been diagnosed with emotionally unstable personality disorder and was agoraphobic, and felt she could not leave the house for a benefits assessment.
Her weekly benefits payment was reduced and she was found dead with a letter beside her from Capita, who had been contracted by the DWP, refusing her a home assessment visit.
The report also contains a warning for ministers about moves to cut costs in the benefits system.
Debbie Abrahams, the committee’s Labour chairwoman, suggested an “unhelpful media narrative” about benefits claimants and “cost-cutting drives” continues to sow distrust in the DWP.
The report comes at a time when the government is pushing for reforms aimed at reducing the number of welfare claimants by getting more people currently on benefits into work.
“Cost-effectiveness and efforts to move people into work had been prioritised, or been perceived to be prioritised, over providing genuine care and support to vulnerable people,” the report said.
A DWP spokesperson said: “This government is committed to protecting the people who use our services and fixing the broken welfare system we inherited so it works for those who need it.
“That’s why we are currently consulting on a new safeguarding approach, and our reforms will improve people’s lives and rebuild trust by establishing an approach that genuinely supports vulnerable people.”
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you
