DWP figures ‘show how rise in staff workload led to mental health crisis’

A huge increase in the workload faced by civil servants managing universal credit cases led to significant increases in how many of them took time off after experiencing mental distress and other ill-health, new government figures suggest.

The figures, secured through a freedom of information (FoI) request, show the proportion of universal credit caseload managers who took time off with a mental health condition rose from seven per cent in 2019 to 23 per cent in 2022 and 26 per cent in 2023.

Over the same period, the proportion of caseload managers who spent more than four weeks off sick during the year nearly doubled, from 14 per cent in 2019 to 23 per cent in 2022 and 27 per cent in 2023.

But the figures also show that the average number of universal credit cases each caseload manager was expected to deal with had more than doubled, from 550 in January 2020 to 1,230 in January 2023.

Although corresponding figures for work coaches did not show a similar link between an increased caseload and ill-health, they did show the proportion of work coaches taking at least four weeks off sick during the year rose from 14 per cent in 2019 to 24 per cent in 2022, and then 22 per cent in 2023.

The proportion of work coaches taking time off due to mental health concerns increased by more than three times from four per cent in 2019 to 16 per cent in 2022 and 15 per cent in 2023.

Disability News Service (DNS) requested the figures after reporting in November how whistleblowers had revealed that more than a third of work coaches on a single floor of a jobcentre in Oxford (pictured) experienced a mental health crisis in less than a year, due to the “dysfunctional” Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and its “toxic” policies.

Written and oral evidence seen by DNS showed conditions for work coaches at the jobcentre became so stressful that 15 of those in one team of 23 quit within a 12-month period.

All the Oxford resignations and episodes of mental distress followed preparations that began in November 2021 for DWP’s Way to Work Initiative, which was launched publicly in January 2022 by the then work and pensions secretary Therese Coffey.

Jake Baker*, a former work coach at the jobcentre, said the new DWP figures “irrefutably demonstrate that working conditions are causing increasingly more incidences of sickness and mental health distress for UC work coaches and especially UC case managers across the UK”.

He said: “It is now clear that the systemic abuse of DWP employees has become normalised, and acceptable, despite being predictable and as such avoidable.

“The DWP’s lazy and ineffectual response of simply and continually recruiting new employees to replace their burnt out and injured predecessors is unacceptable and neglectful.”

And he said it was “abhorrent” and “extremely distressing” that the “highly dysfunctional” and “dangerous” DWP working practices that led to the “unacceptable suffering” of Oxford jobcentre work coaches remained unchallenged.

The month after DNS exposed conditions at Oxford jobcentre, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) concluded that DWP was massively under-staffed and was a “failing organisation in a state of crisis”, as it submitted a “devastating” dossier of evidence from its own staff to Peter Schofield, DWP’s permanent secretary.

PCS said the staffing crisis was “creating an epidemic of mental ill health amongst staff and failing to protect the most vulnerable citizens in society”.

The new figures secured by DNS appear to confirm the existence of that “epidemic of mental ill health” and raise concerns not only about the health of DWP staff but about the impact on disabled people who need support from work coaches and universal credit case managers.

DNS has continued to report on safety concerns within universal credit, including two coroners in just three months linking the system with the suicide of a claimant.

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “The data shared by the DWP in response to the FoI request conclusively support PCS demands for more staff and the testimonies provided by our members in November.

“The data makes it clear that excessive workloads are creating unacceptable pressure for our members which is resulting in a mental health crisis in DWP.

“Despite repeated attempts by PCS to engage with DWP leadership about finding solutions to the staffing crisis we have hit a brick wall.

“We have requested meetings with the secretary of state, Mel Stride, and the permanent secretary, Peter Schofield, to discuss the staffing crisis but these requests have been refused.

“Rather than acknowledge the scale of the problem, DWP is burying its head in the sand.

“We will use this important data to continue to press our demands for more staff to create a social security system that is fair to staff and to claimants.”

Asked if it was worried about the increase in ill-health absence among its staff, and whether it accepted that this was linked to an increase in workload, DWP declined to answer the question.

But it said it provided a wide range of support for staff to help with their physical health and mental, social and financial wellbeing, including access to an employee assistance programme and the presence of mental health first aiders and “ambassadors for fair treatment” throughout its organisation.

It claimed it was committed to building health and wellbeing confidence across DWP by developing its leaders to recognise early signs of ill-health.

It also said it had prioritised lower-paid employees in its 2023-24 pay award, while its recruitment campaigns continued across the country.

A DWP spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting the wellbeing of our staff and provide access to a comprehensive range of assistance for their physical and mental health.

“We have recruitment plans in place to maintain key services – providing excellent opportunities for existing staff and new recruits who are playing a vital role in our next generation welfare reforms to help thousands back into jobs, grow the economy and drive down inflation.”

*Not his real name

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