Cross party letter

to Rt Hon Thérèse Coffey MP

DRAFT - For MPs only

Dear Secretary of State,

Re: public inquiry into serious harm and deaths related to the social security system

We are writing to you as a cross-party group of parliamentarians to urge you to establish public inquiry into serious harm and deaths linked to the social security system and to improve the way that such cases are investigated.

As you know, the social security system is intended to be a safety net for people across the country who find themselves unable to work or in need of financial support. Many of those supported by benefits live with mental illness or other disabilities and the system should be designed to meet their needs. Unfortunately, as constituency MPs and peers we have seen how problems with the design and operation of the system can hurt those who it is supposed to help.

It is vital that when people are seriously harmed, or in the worst cases tragically lose their lives, lessons are learnt in a transparent, timely and accountable way. Yet, despite an almost three-fold increase in the number of Internal Process Reviews being conducted by the department into death or serious harm in recent years, we believe that many cases are being missed.

It is well known that many more people experience mental health crisis, self-harm or suicide attempts than die by suicide, so it is concerning that there were almost four times as many IPRs focused on deaths (114) compared to serious harm (31) in the most recent data. It suggests there is a gap where most of the investigations should be.

A public inquiry is vital to learn the lessons from death and serious harm linked to the social security system and stop further harm. The need for a public inquiry has been repeatedly raised in parliament, including during a debate on the death of people on social security benefits led by Debbie Abrahams MP in 2020, in Work and Pensions Select Committee sessions and at a recent event run by the APPG on Mental Health and APPG on Universal Credit.

It also has the backing of bereaved families, alongside a range of charities and campaigners.
There is also an urgent need for reform of the way that cases of death and serious harm are investigated. Ultimately, we believe there should be an independent process but in the interim, we urge you to take on the recommendations made by Rethink Mental Illness for changes such as publishing annual reports on the number of IPRs conducted and lessons learned, establishing a simple process by which incidents can be reported and providing a clearer definition of what constitutes ‘serious harm’.

We hope you will reconsider the case for a public inquiry and, in the interim, implement changes to make investigations into these serious incidents more effective, transparent and accountable.

Finally, we have been impressed by the bravery of the bereaved relatives who have been campaigning for justice, so that other families do not face the tragic loss that they have. We ask you to meet with them.

Yours sincerely,

Debbie Abrahams (Labour, member of Work and Pensions Select Committee)
Kirsty Blackman (SNP, spokesperson for Work and Pensions)
Hywel Williams (Plaid Cymru, spokesperson for Work and Pensions)
Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat, spokesperson for Justice and for Women and Equalities)

Additional MPs and peers to be added

For MPs: the deadline to sign this letter is Monday 18 July by 5pm. To do so please email campaigns@rethink.org.