MPs have joined Disabled activists and bereaved families in calling for a public inquiry into the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) following years of deaths linked to its actions. Investigations by Disability News Service (DNS) have uncovered evidence suggesting that DWP’s policies and practices may have contributed to hundreds, possibly thousands, of deaths among Disabled benefit claimants.
The DNS investigation revealed that DWP destroyed incriminating records, withheld crucial information from independent reviewers and grieving families, and, in some instances, provided false information to coroners. These findings are detailed in the book The Department, authored by DNS editor John Pring.
In response to these revelations, John McDonnell, the former Labour shadow chancellor, tabled an early day motion (EDM) in Parliament. The EDM highlights the “shocking evidence” of harm caused by the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) and calls for an independent public inquiry into the roles of ministers, civil servants, and advisers in the suffering identified. The motion has garnered support from MPs across various parties, including Labour’s Jon Trickett, Mary Kelly Foy, and Ian Lavery, as well as the SDLP’s Claire Hanna and the DUP’s Jim Shannon.
Research conducted in 2015 by public health experts from the universities of Liverpool and Oxford found that the reassessment of Disabled people receiving incapacity benefit through the WCA was associated with an additional 590 suicides between 2010 and 2013.
At a vigil outside the Royal Courts of Justice, McDonnell emphasised the “scale of the suffering” caused by the WCA, noting the tragic loss of many Disabled lives. Disabled activists, including Rick Burgess, advocate for a public inquiry as a democratic and transparent means to understand and address the issues within DWP.
Reclaiming Our Futures Alliance, a coalition of Disabled People’s Organisations, which includes WECIL, supports the call for an inquiry, stating it is “essential if we are to understand what has gone so horribly wrong in the DWP that has led to so many unnecessary benefit-related deaths.”
Families affected by these tragedies, such as Joy Dove—whose daughter, Jodey Whiting, took her own life in 2017 after her benefits were wrongly stopped—have been advocating for an inquiry for years. Dove asserts the necessity of identifying those responsible to prevent further unnecessary deaths.
The collective call for a public inquiry aims to hold DWP accountable and to implement reforms that ensure the safety and well-being of Disabled benefit claimants.
