A legal duty to look after vulnerable people who are claiming benefits must be introduced at the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP), 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 committee’s latest recommendations come after several high-profile deaths of vulnerable people following their interaction with the benefits system. Among those named in the report is Errol Graham, who starved to death in 2018, months after his disability benefit payments were stopped.
Meanwhile, 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. At the same time, claimants have reported “feeling undeserving of support, or fearful of the DWP”.
A “deep-rooted cultural change” is needed, according to the report, which recommended a change in the law so that the DWP has to help claimants who are vulnerable get help from other branches of Government, like the health service. Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall should make a statement in the House of Commons setting out a new approach to safeguarding once the ongoing benefits review is finished, the MPs said.
A statutory duty of care would be a “significant undertaking for the DWP”, the 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”.
Ms Abrahams said: “That people continue to face harm after dealing with the DWP is a self-evident failure of safeguarding in the system. Until recently, getting people back into work to cut costs had been prioritised over providing support and care for vulnerable people.
“We heard evidence that the process itself of engaging with the DWP itself too often led to mental distress. Where this led to not being able to get financial support, many had paid the ultimate price.”
While the committee members had been “heartened” by evidence they heard from the Work and Pensions Secretary on moves to improve safeguarding, Ms Abrahams added: “We’ve heard that, whilst some have been lifted by the system when it works well, this can depend on claimants’ confidence that the system will help them.
“Too often, we heard their trust has been smashed by continual cost-cutting drives and an unhelpful media narrative.
“Many fear coming forward and expressing that they need additional support due to their circumstances and they fall deeper into vulnerability and despair as a result.”
The report also contains a warning for ministers about moves to cut costs in the benefits system. “Incorrectly applied, policies intended to drive claimant behaviour and deliver value for money, such as sanctions and deductions, can create and exacerbate vulnerabilities,” it said.
Mark Winstanley, chief executive of the charity Rethink Mental Illness, gave his support to the committee’s recommendations.
“For too long, vulnerable people living with mental illness have suffered devastating harm and lost their lives due to failures in the benefits system,” he said. “If implemented, a statutory duty for the DWP to safeguard vulnerable claimants would be a crucial step towards real accountability, something we and other committed campaigners have advocated for.
“Like our NHS, the benefits system was set up to support those in need, yet without legal safeguards a punitive and harmful approach has gone unchecked, with little transparency on whether lessons have been learned from past tragedies. The Government has pledged to renew its focus on safeguarding – this must include a statutory duty for the DWP to safeguard vulnerable claimants that prioritises the wellbeing of people affected by mental illness in every policy and decision.”
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.
“As we deliver our Plan for Change, we encourage people to have their voices heard through our consultation so we can build a safeguarding approach that works better for all.”
