Britain’s human rights watchdog today ordered the government to reform its treatment of disabled and mentally ill benefit claimants after a string of deaths.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission responded to “serious concerns” about “failures” in the Department for Work of Pensions (DWP), including suicides.
MPs had asked the EHRC to investigate "the deaths of vulnerable claimants by suicide and other causes between 2008 and 2020".
In a bombshell intervention after more than a year of inquiries, the EHRC is drawing up a legally-binding agreement for a DWP “action plan”.
The exact details will only be announced when it is signed later this summer.
But the plan is “focused on resolving issues for DWP customers, and offers a fast, effective means of redress, and helps to avoid lengthy investigations” the EHRC said.
It comes two years after an audit report revealed the government had investigated 69 benefit claimants’ suicides since 2014, and could have investigated more.
Campaigners have spent years demanding an inquiry into deaths of benefit claimants such as Jodey Whiting, who took her own life after her ESA was stopped in 2017.
Another ESA claimant, Errol Graham, starved to death weighing just 5 stone in 2018 after his benefits were stopped.
The EHRC said it spent much of 2021 questioning DWP officials about concerns that its legal obligation to disabled benefit claimants were not being met.
Despite the DWP outlining steps to address the “problems”, the EHRC decided further action was necessary.
Labour MP Debbie Abrahams, who has campaigned for an inquiry, said: “It is a step forward but it is just not good enough.
“I want them to go much further - a full independent transparent inquiry looking at the scale of the deaths, the responsibility round the culture of the organisation, and the policies that contributed to it.”
She added: “We don’t know the full scale of it - the NAO identified the 69 deaths and said this was the tip of the iceberg - we believe far more are dying without this being properly acknowledged. I’ve had people contacting me - brothers, sisters, parents, saying my relative died but they don’t want to go public.”
EHRC chief executive Marcial Boo said: “The EHRC is committed to stamping out discrimination against all disabled people, including those with mental health conditions and learning disabilities whose needs can be overlooked.
“Government bodies often deliver essential services to vulnerable people. They must meet high standards and make reasonable adjustments for those who need them. The EHRC will hold them to account if they do not.
“This agreement with DWP will build on the improvements already taking place for disabled benefits claimants.
“We are pleased that officials are working cooperatively with us to address our concerns, and we expect the binding legal agreement to be in place shortly. We will monitor its delivery.”
The EHRC announced the move through a ‘section 23 agreement’ under the 2006 Equality Act. Organisations enter them voluntarily but they are legally binding.
As of last summer 28 were in place and other organisations hit with one in the past include National Rail, LNER and Jaguar Land Rover.
A DWP spokesperson said: “We are committed to providing a compassionate and responsive service to all our customers, and are constantly improving our processes to deliver consistently reliable and high quality standards.
“We have not so far identified any systemic unlawful action by the department. We will continue to work collaboratively towards our shared goals with the Commission, addressing their concerns and delivering for our customers.”
