Overview

• The Commons Work and Pensions Committee has called for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to be legally required to safeguard vulnerable benefit claimants following widespread failures.
• The report highlights hundreds of preventable deaths and serious harms linked to DWP errors, including high-profile cases like Errol Graham and Philippa Day.
• MPs recommend introducing a statutory duty of care, mandatory referrals to support agencies, and independent scrutiny to address systemic issues.
• Since 2020-21, the DWP has conducted 240 internal reviews into cases of serious harm or death, but the true scale of the problem remains unclear.
• The DWP is currently consulting on a new safeguarding framework under its Plan for Change, aiming to rebuild trust and improve claimant support.