MPs to question DWP officials amid complaints controversy
DWP officials will be questioned by Work and Pensions Committee MPs amid concerns raised by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) over how seriously the Department is tackling failings at the heart of the WASPI women scandal.
Meeting details
PHSO chief Paula Sussex wrote to Committee Chair Debbie Abrahams of “serious concerns” over delays to promised remedial actions to how the DWP handles complaints and communicates state pension reforms. In November, the PHSO was told by the Permanent Secretary – who is due to be a witness at the evidence session – that work on the action plan has been paused. Ms. Sussex said she was “very concerned that stopping indicates that the DWP is deprioritizing the need for remedial action”, adding the move is “certainly a disservice to the Department’s service users and complainants”.
Ahead of tackling the PHSO issue, MPs will ask about overpayments of carers allowance. Almost 90,000 people have racked up debts to the DWP, whose pursual of repayments the 2025 Sayce Review found had a profound impact on people’s lives. The review found that systemic failures in the Department caused this and that the Department missed opportunities to address the situation sooner. MPs will ask about the DWPs treatment of claimants after an internal blogpost was leaked that laid the blame for the scandal with victims.
MPs are also likely to ask officials at the session scrutinising the DWP’s annual reports and accounts about fraud and error figures, the use of AI by the Department, and how it is taking on the skills brief.