Tory councillors silent over death of disabled man whose PIP was stopped, as council refers case for possible review

Conservative councillors responsible for housing, social care, public health and safeguarding have all refused to comment on the death of a disabled man who was found dead in distressing conditions after the wrongful removal of his disability benefits.

David*, from Salisbury, was found dead in his home in Salisbury in February, just weeks after his personal independence payment (PIP) had been stopped when he failed to return a review form.

David (pictured), who lived on the ground floor of a two-storey council house, had left a handwritten note describing his deteriorating health and state of desperation, and how he had fallen over eight times since the start of the year.

It is believed he may have been left without enough credit on his mobile phone to call for help, and that he had not had enough money to fix his broken mobility scooter, after his PIP was removed in January.

David’s sister Susan* believes her brother was too ill to return his PIP review form, and that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) may have failed to make the necessary safeguarding checks before removing his PIP.

But she also believes Wiltshire Council must have known that her brother was living in vulnerable circumstances.

Although the council has refused to comment on the circumstances of David’s death, it has referred his case for a possible multi-agency safeguarding review.

The council initially declined to take any action, until Disability News Service (DNS) pointed out that Susan had twice phoned social services with concerns about her brother and was told they would not investigate his needs because he had to request support himself.

Susan also said David had lived in a council house for 20 years, that the council should have been aware of his status as a PIP claimant, and that it had installed hand railings in his bathroom after he had fallen several times.

She believes the council was aware of his status as a “vulnerable adult” and may have failed in its duty of care after his PIP was stopped.

DNS also told the council of concerns over the local actions of DWP and the NHS.

And it passed on the concerns raised by Debbie Abrahams, chair of the Commons work and pensions committee, who described David’s story last week as “a harrowing account of the social security system at its most inhumane”.

Abrahams had questioned why his PIP was removed, what help DWP had provided with his review, and whether the department had flagged him as a vulnerable claimant.

After being passed this information, Wiltshire Council agreed to refer David’s death to Wiltshire Safeguarding Vulnerable People Partnership (SVPP) for a possible multi-agency safeguarding adult review.

Under the Care Act, the partnership must carry out a safeguarding review “when an adult in its area dies as a result of abuse or neglect, whether known or suspected, and there is concern that partner agencies could have worked more effectively to protect the adult”.

Caroline Collier, from Inclusion Barnet’s Campaign for Disability Justice, which played a key role in exposing the tragedy, said: “I am pleased to hear that the Wiltshire Safeguarding Vulnerable People Partnership are considering a safeguarding adults review, and very much hope that this goes ahead.

“It’s vital that lessons are learned from David’s untimely and tragic death, and the terrible circumstances in which he died.

“I hope the authorities in Wiltshire will appreciate that there is a huge public interest in a proper understanding of this case, and that, as a society, we all have a stake in ensuring that such deaths are prevented in the future.”

The council declined to comment this week on why it had referred David’s death for a possible review.

A council spokesperson said: “We’ve made a referral and it will be a partnership decision regarding next steps.”

Emma Legg, the council’s corporate director of care and wellbeing, had said earlier: “Our thoughts are with the family of [David] and we send our condolences at this time.

“We are not able to comment on individual cases, however as a member of the safeguarding adults board (SVPP) we would always fully participate in any multi-agency safeguarding adult review process.”

Following the council’s refusal to comment on the case, and the serious safeguarding concerns, DNS asked for comments from the council’s leader, Richard Clewer; Phil Alford, its cabinet member for housing; Ian Blair-Pilling, its cabinet member for public health; Jane Davies, its cabinet member for adult social care; and Peter Hutton, its portfolio holder for safeguarding.

None of them had responded to DNS by noon today (Thursday).

All of them – except Hutton – are seeking re-election in the local elections on 1 May.

Salisbury’s Conservative MP, John Glen, refused to comment this week on the death of his constituent.

He refused to say if he was concerned about the circumstances of David’s death; refused to promise to contact DWP to seek reassurance over those circumstances; refused to support calls for a safeguarding review; and refused to comment on whether David’s death provided a warning of what could happen if the Labour government pushed ahead with plans for billions of pounds of cuts to PIP.

Instead, a spokesperson for Glen said it was “not something we have had prior awareness of, so John does not feel it is appropriate to give a speculative comment without having direct knowledge of the full circumstances”.

His office made no request to be put in touch with the family to obtain that information.

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