“The sister of a mentally ill man who starved to death in David Cameron’s constituency after his benefits were wrongly cut has accused the Government of “killing the very vulnerable”, as official figures emerged suggesting dozens of people could have died in similar circumstances.
Freedom of Information requests [*copies below] by the Disability News Service revealed that the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has investigated decisions made about welfare payments following the deaths of 60 people since 2012 – the first time the DWP has tacitly admitted there could be a link.” [emphasis added] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/benefit-changes-are-killing-the-vulnerable-say-campaigners-9877872.html
*DWP FOI disclosures on deaths (pdf files)
[1] Request about “records held on ESA claimants with a recorded date of death between October 2008 and your most up-to-date figures” [2] Request about “deaths that have been found to be connected to, or linked to, or partially caused by, the withdrawal or non-payment of disability benefits…” [3] Number of peer reviews ’60 since 2012′ [4] Peer review guidance for authors [5] Information from coroners [6] Peer review guidance
FOI disclosures via:
John Pring
Editor: Disability News Service
Author: Longcare Survivors: The Biography of a Care Scandal
Email: john@disabilitynewsservice.com
Website: http://www.disabilitynewsservice.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/johnpringdns
www.refuted.org.uk 