Deaths prompt MPs to call for better support for vulnerable benefit claimants

Commons committee recommends independent scrutiny of failures and legal duty to safeguard those at most risk

A cross-party committee of MPs has called for greater protections for vulnerable benefit claimants after hundreds of cases of deaths and serious harms linked to safeguarding failures by welfare officials.

The work and pensions select committee said many of these cases, which include instances where claimants took their own lives, could have been prevented had the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) discharged its responsibilities effectively.