Select committee: Work and Pensions Committee
Conclusion 38
1st Report – Safeguarding Vulnerable Claimants
Published 15 May 2025
Addressed to Department for Work and Pensions
Work and Pensions Committee Safeguarding vulnerable claimants All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
If all other layers of safeguarding fail, and claimants experience harm as a consequence, it is essential that DWP learns from these cases. Furthermore, it is right that learning mechanisms are transparent, so that claimants and their families can understand what the Department is doing to prevent 101 these same failures from recurring. We welcome the Department’s plans to publish anonymised Internal Process Review (IPR) data, and the detailed information it provided to us about Internal Process Reviews and the Serious Case Panel. Whilst this has aided our own understanding of the processes DWP uses to learn from cases of serious harm and death, we remain concerned that the system remains opaque, diminishing the Department’s accountability. (Conclusion, Paragraph 160)
From: Work and Pensions Committee, 1st Report – Safeguarding Vulnerable Claimants (HC 402), 15 May 2025
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 22 July 2025 (deadline 15 July 2025).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The Government has responded in full only to those recommendations outside the scope of the consultation on a new safeguarding approach, with the others being "considered alongside the consultation", the outcome of which "will be published in the Autumn".
- On a statutory safeguarding duty, the Government is "open to" it. The Secretary of State "will make a statement to the House in the Autumn" setting out DWP's new approach to safeguarding.
- It does not intend to publish the Chief Medical Advisor's team advice on the Pathways to Work changes, saying it remains advice to the Secretary of State and that "a single document does not exist".
- On Help to Claim, DWP states it "has found no shortfall" in support following the transition, citing jobcentre support and the Visiting Service.
- On the PHSO's powers, DWP "acknowledges" the recommendation but says it lacks authority to make such changes. Any change "would require primary legislation" and is "a matter for Parliament".