19 July 2018
Four opposition parties demand DWP answers over work capability assessment deaths “cover-up”.
What: Opposition parties say they will write urgent letters to work and pensions secretary Esther McVey about why documents linking the WCA with the deaths of benefit claimants were not shared with Dr Paul Litchfield, the independent expert commissioned by government to review the WCA in 2013 and 2014. The Green party’s co-leader, Jonathan Bartley, says the failure to be clear about what happened with the documents had “all the hallmarks of a deliberate cover-up”.
Why significant: Political pressure on DWP ministers to explain why the documents do not appear to have been shared with Litchfield.
Citations
Four opposition parties demand DWP answers over WCA deaths ‘cover-up’, Pring, 2018
DWP’s ‘fitness for work’ reviewer handed CBE after refusing to speak out on benefit deaths evidence, Pring, 2018