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Minister questioned over failure to pass evidence about deaths linked to the work capability assessment (WCA) to independent reviewer.

What: Labour’s Debbie Abrahams is granted an urgent question in the House of Commons to ask work and pensions minister Will Quince why DWP failed to pass crucial evidence linking the WCA to claimant deaths to Dr Paul Litchfield for his reviews of the WCA. Quince tells Abrahams that recorded information to show what documents were shared with Litchfield “no longer exists, in line with the department’s document retention policy”. But he fails to tell MPs about the DWP’s admission to the information commissioner that members of Litchfield’s team who still work for DWP have said in statements that the coroner’s letters and peer reviews were never shared with Litchfield.

Why significant: Further pressure on DWP over its failure to pass evidence to Litchfield and Harrington.

Citations

Social Security Claimant Deaths Volume 662: debated 2019