One year on: Committee to question Timms on DWP safeguarding progress
The Work and Pensions Committee will question Sir Stephen Timms on the DWP’s safeguarding practices, a year after the Committee demanded a joined-up approach to safeguarding following the deaths and serious harm of vulnerable people under the Department’s care.
Meeting details
The Work and Pensions Committee will question Sir Stephen Timms on the DWP’s safeguarding practices, a year after the Committee demanded a joined-up approach to safeguarding following the deaths and serious harm of vulnerable people under the Department’s care.
The evidence session – a follow-up to the committee’s Safeguarding Vulnerable Claimants report, published in 2025, is likely to cover:
- The publication of the framework promised in the Government’s response to the Committee’s report.
- Progress testing alternatives to sanctions.
- Access on request for family members of reviews following cases of serious harm or death – known as Internal Process Reviews.
- Efforts to change the DWP’s culture.
The committee’s 2025 report called for “deep-rooted cultural change” and that consideration of the impacts on vulnerable people be put at the heart of policy-making to avoid a repeat of tragic and avoidable deaths, like those of Errol Graham, Philippa Day and Jodey Whiting. The committee recommended the DWP improve the transparency of processes it used to learn from serious mistakes, including Internal Process Reviews, as one step towards bridging trust with claimants.
There have been more than 300 Internal Process Reviews of cases of death or serious harm among claimants since 2020, but the true scale is likely to be higher.