Three deaths of disabled people who took their own lives were linked to flaws within the universal credit system, despite the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) previously dismissing fears about the safety of “vulnerable” claimants as “misplaced”.
A report by the Prime Minister’s Implementation Unit (PMIU) in 2019 had recommended that DWP should check that a “minimum level of support” for vulnerable claimants was available across jobcentres, and that it should test that its staff were aware of policy changes.
But DWP told the unit in 2019 that these concerns were only being raised by “stakeholders” and that “the evidence for problems was weak and driven from a campaigning perspective, not an evidence based one”.
Work on the PMIU report was then postponed by the pandemic, and DWP decided later – probably sometime in 2021 – that the “performance” of universal credit during the Covid crisis had shown that “the fears for vulnerable customers were misplaced”.
This meant that DWP did not carry out the “assurance exercises” that would have tested the minimum level of support for disabled claimants in vulnerable situations.
In the next two years, the deaths of at least three disabled claimants of universal credit were linked to safeguarding flaws within universal credit.
On 4 March 2022, Kevin Gale took his own life after becoming overwhelmed by the universal credit application process.
The following month, a woman took her own life after being harassed by DWP over her claim.
And in June 2023, the death of Naz Anderson – due to complications following an overdose –followed six missed opportunities by DWP to record her vulnerability.
Her case had been randomly selected for a “performance measurement review” of her universal credit claim, and she was told she owed nearly £13,000 in back-payments following her husband’s death.
The deaths of Kevin Gale and Naz Anderson led to coroners sending prevention of future deaths reports to DWP, while the inquest of the other woman has not yet been held.
DWP’s comments were revealed in a decision notice (PDF) issued by the information commissioner, following a complaint made by Owen Stevens, from Child Poverty Action Group.
Stevens had been seeking the results of the assurance exercises, but the commissioner concluded that they were not carried out by DWP.
Disability News Service (DNS) revealed last year that the PMIU report had revealed significant flaws at the heart of the universal credit system and in how DWP supported claimants it saw as vulnerable.
In the last year, repeated concerns have been raised about the safety of universal credit, but neither the Conservatives nor Labour mentioned it in their election manifestos.
The new work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, has shown no public interest in the concerns reported by DNS.
DNS reported in May how a survey by the Commons work and pensions committee found two-thirds of DWP staff still do not have enough time to deal with safeguarding concerns “carefully” and “correctly”, despite years of deaths of benefit claimants linked with the department’s actions and failings.
Last December, a dossier of evidence submitted by the PCS union to DWP showed the department to be a failing organisation in a “state of crisis” and facing a “near collapse” of its benefits systems, with staff accusing DWP of “deliberate neglect” and revealing that claimants in vulnerable situations were “falling through the gaps” in the system.
The rollout of universal credit to the remaining hundreds of thousands of disabled people still receiving income-related employment and support allowance (ESA) will begin next month.
DWP refused this week to say if it now regretted not carrying out the assurance exercises, and whether it believed that the lives of the three claimants might have been saved if it had done so.
It also declined to say when the decision was taken not to carry out the assurance exercises, or to comment on Kendall’s apparent lack of interest in the ongoing universal credit safeguarding concerns.
But it said it had taken measures to improve safeguarding since the PMIU report was completed, including setting up a new customer experience directorate; introducing a new team responsible for “understanding, mitigating, and resolving barriers” faced by universal credit claimants; and “reinstating” a team focused on supporting DWP staff with issues around “complex needs, vulnerabilities, and individual requirements”.
It said it had also introduced advanced customer support senior leaders, who work with colleagues to support their most “vulnerable” customers and build relationships with outside organisations in the local community.
The department said it was developing a strategy to move the remaining two million households receiving “legacy” income-related benefits like ESA onto universal credit and was continuing to test how best to support claimants with this, including asking claimants about their concerns and barriers through “user researchers”.
A DWP spokesperson said in a statement: “We are committed to ensuring all customers receive the support they need from our staff and services.
“Since this report in 2019, the department has made significant changes in the support it provides to all individuals, particularly those who are vulnerable.”
Meanwhile, the new government has repeated its pre-election position on reform of the work capability assessment (WCA).
In response to a written parliamentary question, the new disability and social security minister, Sir Stephen Timms, failed to say whether the government planned to scrap the WCA.
He also provided no information on whether the government planned to press ahead with Conservative plans to cut spending on out-of-work disability benefits by tightening the WCA.
But he told Labour MP Mary Kelly Foy: “The government is committed to reforming or replacing the work capability assessment, alongside putting in place a proper plan to support disabled people into work.
“We will also give disabled people the confidence to start working without fear of an immediate benefit reassessment if it does not work out.
“More disabled people and those with health conditions will be supported to enter and stay in work, by devolving more power to local areas so they can shape a joined-up work, health, and skills offer that suits the needs of the people they serve.”
A note from the editor:
Please consider making a voluntary financial contribution to support the work of DNS and allow it to continue producing independent, carefully-researched news stories that focus on the lives and rights of disabled people and their user-led organisations.
Please do not contribute if you cannot afford to do so, and please note that DNS is not a charity. It is run and owned by disabled journalist John Pring and has been from its launch in April 2009.
Thank you for anything you can do to support the work of DNS…