Social Security Claimant Deaths

Christine Jardine Excerpts
Thursday 4th July 2019

(4 years, 10 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Will Quince Portrait Will Quince
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What we are doing is spending £6 billion more, and we will continue to work with stakeholders where possible, to ensure that we can improve our processes.

Christine Jardine Portrait Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)
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The Department has, as has been said, given us a number of reasons why this information is not available, but to the public and to those affected, it will seem that there can be only two acceptable or reasonable reasons—that the information was deliberately withheld and covered up, or that it was incompetence. To get to the bottom of this and to reassure the public, will the Minister give those of us who are asking today for that inquiry, the assurance that the Department will do everything it possibly can to get to the bottom of this?

Will Quince Portrait Will Quince
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In cases of this nature, our inquiries and investigations nearly always go alongside a coroner’s investigation. So it is important to say that there is already that independent investigation, and we do work very closely with coroners and supply information as required by them.