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Deaths of people on benefits prompt inquiry call

Published 10 May, 2021

In May 2021, the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Shared Data Unit reported that cases where people claiming benefits died or came to serious harm had led to more than 150 internal reviews by the Department for Work & Pensions(DWP) since 2012.

Internal reviews were held by the DWP when it was alleged its actions had a negative impact, or when it was named at an inquest.

Calling for an inquiry, Labour MP Debbie Abrahams said: "It needs to be taken out of the hands of the DWP."

The DWP said: "When, sadly, there is a tragic case we take it very seriously."

The internal reviews were not routinely published and bereaved families were not routinely informed when they began.

Separately, the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Shared Data Unit  naming 82 individuals to have died after some alleged DWP activity such as termination of benefits over the same time period as the internal reviews. Mental health vulnerabilities were a contributing factor in 35 of those people's deaths.

Method

We made email requests to every Coroner’s office in England and Wales asking for copies of all of the Prevention of Future Death (PFD) reports or Rule 43 letters their Coroner or office had sent to the Department for Work & Pensions(DWP) over the past decade and scoured the Chief Coroner’s website for all PFDs where the DWP was a recipient.

Separately, we made four requests under the Freedom of Information Act(FOI) to the DWP itself: one successful for copies of minutes from the DWP’s Serious Case Panel and three requests for data on the numbers of benefits claimants’ deaths recorded by the DWP, which were all refused on the grounds of cost.

A further separate FOI response from Northern Ireland’s Department for Communities received the response: β€œThe Department is not aware of any benefit-related deaths in Northern Ireland nor is it aware of any coroner’s reports that have explicitly stated a benefit decision that has had a causal impact on the death of a claimant.”

In Scotland, we also analysed the most recent 100 Sheriffs’ determinations in Fatal Accident Inquiries but none mentioned the DWP.

We meanwhile created our own dataset of press reports naming individuals to have died after some alleged DWP activity such as termination of benefits - we found 104 examples of individuals since 2008 (as well as Press reports of the death of Cecilia Burns from Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland) - 82 of those individuals died in Great Britain over the same time period as the DWP carried out 150 internal reviews.

Data and sources

The data and background methodology released to partners are available here:

Interviews and quotes

  • Imogen Day, whose sister Philippa took a fatal overdose after authorities who dealt with her benefits claim made 28 errors in managing her case
  • Alison Turner, fiancΓ©e of Errol Graham’s son. Mr Graham 
  • Joy Dove, the mother of Jodey Whiting, who took her own life in February 2017 after her benefits were stopped
  • Debbie Abrahams, Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, who previously 
  • Tessa Gregory, partner at Leigh Day solicitors, and human rights specialist who brought the 
  • The Equality and Human Rights Commission
  • Ken Butler, welfare rights adviser at the pan-disability charity Disability Rights UK
  • Daphne Hall, the vice chair of the National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers and rightsnet Editor
  • The Department for Work & Pensions

Partner usage

The Shared Data Unit makes data journalism available to the wider news industry as part of the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Local News Partnership. Stories written by partners based on this research included:

  • Nottinghamshire Live:  10 May 2021
  • Yorkshire Live:  10 May 2021
  • Surrey Live:  10 May 2021
  • Cambridgeshire Live:  10 May 2021
  • Birmingham Live:  10 May 2021
  • Lincolnshire Live:  10 May 2021
  • Cheshire Live:  10 May 2021
  • Derbyshire Live:  10 May 2021
  • ITV Tyne Tees:  10 May 2021
  • Metro Radio:  10 May 2021
  • JACKfm: The sister of an Oxfordshire man who starved to death months after his benefits were cut, says the system needs improving in order to safeguard other vulnerable people 10 May 2021
  • Grimsby Live:  10 May 2021
  • Nottinghamshire Live:  11 May 2021
  • Coventry Live:  11 May 2021
  • Bristol Live:  11 May 2021
  • The Lincolnite:  11 May 2021
  • The Oldham Times:  12 May 2021
  • Liverpool Echo:  12 May 2021
  • The Lincolnite:  13 May 2021 
  • Manchester Evening News:  15 May 2021
  • Cornwall Live:  23 May 2021

The story featured on ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ front, home and England pages. It was used on television news by ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Breakfast, the 13:00, 18:00 and 22:00 national bulletins, Afternoon Live on the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ News Channel, East Midlands Today and ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Spotlight. It was also used by ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4 Today, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Manchester, ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Tees and ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Shropshire.

Other usage

  • The Mirror:  10 May 2021
  • Wales Online:  10 May 2021
  • The Guardian:  10 May 2021
  • MailOnline:  10 May 2021
  • Disability Rights UK:  10 May 2021
  • Bustle:  10 May 2021
  • Benefits and Work:  10 May 2021
  • Metro:  11 May 2021
  • The Times: Woman died after benefits cut 11 May 2021
  • The Mirror:  12 May 2021
  • Scotland: Daily Record:  12 May 2021
  • Wales Online:  15 May 2021
  • The Times RedBox:  19 May 2021
  • The Mirror:  23 May 2021