Source · Select Committees · Work and Pensions Committee
Recommendation 12
12
Deferred
Introduce a systems-based approach to safeguarding across all DWP policies and operations.
Recommendation
We recommend the Department introduce a systems-based approach to safeguarding, at all levels of DWP and in all policies. A systems- based approach should consist of developing mechanisms to ensure that safeguarding is explicitly considered at each point in the development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation stages of all policies. This work would ensure that safeguarding is everybody’s business, at all levels of the Department. It should include gathering data on the number of claimants it has identified as vulnerable and the needs of these claimants, defining measurable objectives relating to improved safeguarding across all its key strategies and policies, monitoring progress and reporting outcomes in its Annual Report and Accounts. (Recommendation, Paragraph 47)
Government response summary AI-generated
The government committed to considering the recommendation for a systems-based approach to safeguarding when the detailed departmental approach is outlined later in the Autumn, without making any specific commitments at this time.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Deferred
HM Government · verbatim extract
Deferred
The Government is open to the introduction of a statutory duty to safeguard vulnerable customers and acknowledges the importance of a system-wide approach to ensure consistency, transparency and accountability across Government. As previously shared with the Committee, the Government has recently completed the consultation on the Pathways to Work: Reforming Benefits and Support to Get Britain Working Green Paper, on a new DWP safeguarding approach. The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions will make a statement to the House in the Autumn, following the consideration of the consultation findings and on conclusion of the Department’s current safeguarding review, setting out DWP’s new approach to safeguarding. This will include a clear statement of intent to drive cultural change across all levels of the Department, renew the commitment to safeguarding, promote systems-based approaches, and define DWP’s role in supporting those with safeguarding needs.
Read the full response on Parliament ↗