20 March 2020

Work and pensions secretary responds to questions from Chair of the work and pensions committee, telling him about DWP’s new “Service Excellence Directorate”, including funding for safeguarding and clarifying purpose of internal process reviews (IPRs).

What: In her response to Timm’s letter (see 5 March 2020) Coffey tells him about DWP’s new “Service Excellence Directorate” and £36 million funding for 2020-21 to “increase investment in safeguarding, decision making and how we learn from the most complex cases”. The letter also talks about how the DWP is clarifying the purpose of IPRs, including improving the capability and capacity of the IPR team, and the visibility of the process, and establishing a tool to improve how DWP tracks recommendations and subsequent actions taken.

Why significant: DWP grudgingly releasing sparse details of its safeguarding improvements.