Tories silent on why their ministers ‘sat on’ DWP research for six years

The Conservative party has refused to explain why its former ministers “sat on” vital research papers for up to six years while running the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Labour’s new work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, this week published 31 papers that had been commissioned by DWP under Conservative-led governments, but which she said were “hidden” and never released.

The papers covered key issues such as benefit assessments, universal credit, and pensions.

Many of the reports drew clear conclusions that the last two governments would not have wanted to be publicised.

One paper that has been “sat on” by DWP examines the barriers faced by universal credit (UC), employment and support allowance (ESA) and personal independence payment (PIP) claimants in accessing support with their health.

This paper found that mental ill-health was “the biggest apparent unmet health support need for this group”.

It found that claimants “without reliable support networks reported challenges in managing their health effectively”, but it warned that any support offered or signposted by DWP “must have no strings attached – it should be entered into voluntarily and not be seen to have any sway over an individual’s benefit claim”.

It concluded that it was “clear from the research” that parts of the claims process – the application and the assessment – “can cause challenges for claimants, which can have an impact on their health”.

A paper by the social research agency NatCen, which analysed the “health, social and economic profile” of ESA claimants, used data from the government’s 2014 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey dataset.

It found that ESA claimants in 2014 “were worse off than people in employment across almost every aspect of life examined”, while the findings “highlight the importance of awareness among Jobcentre Plus staff that this is a population reporting high levels of stress, in which confidence was low and anxiety high”.

More than half of the ESA claimants struggled with performing three or more activities of daily living, such as being able to wash, dress, take medications and get out and about.

And most ESA claimants were so poor that they were not able to save £10 a month, the report found.

The paper, which is believed to be more than four years old – and therefore preceded both the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis – found that about one in five ESA claimants reported being cold at home during the winter, and that ESA claimants were more than three times more likely to experience this than people in employment.

A research paper that examined the experiences of disabled people who applied for PIP, but received zero points after being assessed for their eligibility, exposed how the “degrading” system and dishonest and unfair assessments left them “broken”, “numb” and “fuming” (see separate story).

Another paper suppressed by DWP examined why some people chose not to claim universal credit when they were eligible.

The paper, which is likely to be about two years told, found that for almost half (44 per cent) of those on “legacy” benefits such as ESA “paid work will not be a realistic goal even with support”.

It also found: “Those who are not currently able to work also fear that UC would result in them being pushed into work they are not ready for.”

One piece of research, probably about two years old, looked at UC claimants and those on legacy benefits such as ESA who had non-DWP debts.

Many of those interviewed had regularly borrowed money from friends and family to pay for food and bills, the report found.

The average amount of debt owed by UC claimants was about £4,700, with nearly all those in debt saying they had experienced anxiety and stress as a result, and many “specifically mentioning suicidal thoughts”.

Another report showed that using healthcare professionals with specialised knowledge about a claimant’s particular impairment or health condition – which is not currently standard practice – led disabled people “to report that they would feel more at ease during their health assessments”.

And a paper reviewing the effectiveness of the digitalisation of services – probably completed in 2022 – warns that such processes “may lead to more inequality” among claimants, while “DWP should ensure that vulnerable populations at the precarious end of the digital divide are not further excluded from the services that they were using prior to digitalisation”.

Another paper, probably hidden from public view for about a year, describes how the application and assessment process for disability benefits could be improved for claimants with fluctuating conditions.

Asked why Conservative ministers stopped releasing many DWP research papers from 2018 onwards – under work and pensions secretaries Esther McVey, Amber Rudd, Therese Coffey, Chloe Smith and Mel Stride – the party had failed to comment by noon today (Thursday) and refused to even acknowledge emails from Disability News Service requesting a comment.

Sir Stephen Timms, Labour’s new social security and disability minister, said the policy of the last government had been to publish all commissioned research reports within 12 weeks of receiving them.

He told MPs: “That policy was complied with until 2018, when ministers stopped complying with it, so we have had to publish all these reports today.”

He said Kendall’s announcement was “a vital first step in rebuilding the trust in the department that was so shattered by the culture of secrecy, obfuscation and cover-up by Conservative ministers”.

But his comments were overshadowed this week by his own refusal to release three separate sets of written information linked to the deaths of disabled benefit claimants (see separate story).

Asked by Disability News Service to explain why it stopped publishing many research papers within 12 weeks of receiving them, from 2018 onwards, a DWP spokesperson refused to comment.

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