Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2021 to Question 81959 on Social Security Benefits, what assessment her Department has made of the reasons for the disparity between the number of Internal Process Reviews into (a) deaths and (b) incidents of serious harm other than death between July 2019 and December 2021.

The response to question 81959 shows that more Internal Process Reviews (IPRs) have both been started and completed in respect of deaths than reports involving serious harm between July 2019 and December 2021.

The Department has not conducted a specific assessment of the differences in numbers in these two categories. IPRs are internal, retrospective investigations, focussed on organisational learning. DWP commissions them in a range of claimant circumstances.

Not all IPRs conducted after a death relate to suicide and similarly the ‘serious harm’ that prompts an IPR investigation may relate to self-harm or a suicide attempt – but can also refer to other traumatic events.

It is important to distinguish how the Department is informed of these events. The Department records when a claimant dies to update our systems and avoid fraud and error. Suicide attempts and self-harm have no public record. Where these tragic events occur DWP can only act on information disclosed by the claimant or their representative. This means DWP are unlikely to have the opportunity to investigate every case of self-harm or attempted suicide. However, we want to learn from these incidents and the IPR referral criteria were widened to ensure it is inclusive of all circumstances where a customer has attempted to take their own life or suffered serious harm.