MPs demand inquiry into benefits 'flaws' as new DWP leader backs sanctions crackdown
Leaders of the Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Green Party have backed calls for a public inquiry into deaths and serious harm to people in the benefit system. It came as new welfare officer Chloe Smith explained her vision in a keynote
Chloe Smith, new Secretary for Work and Pensions (
Image: Getty Images)
A group of senior MPs have backed calls for a public inquiry into 'failures' in the benefits system, as the new Tory welfare chief set out her vision today.
Westminster leaders of the Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Green Party have demanded a public inquiry into the failings of the benefit system.
Leading MPs have backed calls from Rethink Mental Illness, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and charities including Disability Rights UK, Liberty, Inquest and the MS Society.
In a letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith, they said that despite "internal process reviews" of deaths or serious injuries which have tripled to 179 in the past three years, "we believe that many cases are missed".
They added: "A public inquiry is essential to learn from the deaths and serious abuses linked to the social security system and to stop further abuses."
Families affected by the deaths of people seeking benefits say they asked to meet with former welfare official Therese Coffey last summer, but did not get one.
Picture:
AFP via Getty Images)Mark Winstanley, Managing Director of Rethink Mental Illness, said: "The benefit system was put in place to keep people safe and to provide a safety net when they cannot work or struggle to make ends meet.
"But too often it fails in this most fundamental purpose, often depriving people of the support they desperately need and acting as a force of harm and distress in their lives.
"The DWP needs to stop focusing its energy on avoiding scrutiny and instead show openly and honestly that it...
Leaders of the Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Green Party have backed calls for a public inquiry into deaths and serious harm to people in the benefit system. It came as new welfare officer Chloe Smith explained her vision in a keynote
Chloe Smith, new Secretary for Work and Pensions (
Image: Getty Images)
A group of senior MPs have backed calls for a public inquiry into 'failures' in the benefits system, as the new Tory welfare chief set out her vision today.
Westminster leaders of the Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Green Party have demanded a public inquiry into the failings of the benefit system.
Leading MPs have backed calls from Rethink Mental Illness, the Royal College of Psychiatrists and charities including Disability Rights UK, Liberty, Inquest and the MS Society.
In a letter to Work and Pensions Secretary Chloe Smith, they said that despite "internal process reviews" of deaths or serious injuries which have tripled to 179 in the past three years, "we believe that many cases are missed".
They added: "A public inquiry is essential to learn from the deaths and serious abuses linked to the social security system and to stop further abuses."
Families affected by the deaths of people seeking benefits say they asked to meet with former welfare official Therese Coffey last summer, but did not get one.
Picture:
AFP via Getty Images)Mark Winstanley, Managing Director of Rethink Mental Illness, said: "The benefit system was put in place to keep people safe and to provide a safety net when they cannot work or struggle to make ends meet.
"But too often it fails in this most fundamental purpose, often depriving people of the support they desperately need and acting as a force of harm and distress in their lives.
"The DWP needs to stop focusing its energy on avoiding scrutiny and instead show openly and honestly that it...
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