New safeguarding process before stopping claimant benefits

The request was partially successful.

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

I am writing today to request information around updated guidance you have reported issuing in the wake of Errol Graham’s death.

On the 22nd July Peter Schofield gave oral evidence to the Work and Pensions Committee stating DWP had implemented new safeguarding processes to follow before stopping payments, stating “[Before] stopping a payment. The guidance that we have introduced now is very much that we would escalate that up through the system—we would do case conferencing.”

I have consulted with several PIP enquiry line advisers as well as two case managers who have confirmed that no such guidance has been issued. Last week a DWP safeguarding lead confirmed that the only new safeguarding guidance issued in the wake of the Errol Graham was specific to cases where visiting officers repeatedly fail to make contact as part of a home visit.

I was advised that contrary to Mr Schofield's assertions, ‘safeguarding around the stoppage of payments is being looked at but no guidance has yet been issued.’

Please provide copies of :
- the new DWP safeguarding process/es around what to do before stopping payments
- all guidance issued to DWP employees around safeguarding and harm prevention processes which are to take place before stopping the benefits payments of vulnerable/claimants
- all training materials relating to the above

Please also provide the details of who this guidance and training has been issued to, by which I mean please advise which areas of the organisation and which job titles (ie ‘guidance issued to all DWP staff,’ ‘guidance issued to all Case Managers and Safeguarding Leads’), rather than the names of individuals.

Please also advise as to the dates on which the above were issued as the information I have been given by Case Managers and Safeguarding Leads is contradictory to the evidence of Peter Schofield.

Thank you,

Yours faithfully,

Finn Keaney

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

I am writing just to give a nudge on this one. I understand that there is some degree of additional strain due to the pandemic but the DWP's stance (see the November 2nd removal of safeguards preventing benefits stoppage after WCA, the department's restarting of PIP reviews, and - of particular relevance - claimants no longer being given an extended period of 3 months and instead only having 1 month to return their UC50, ESA50 and PIP2 questionnaires) when it comes to claimants seems to be that we are back to business-as-usual so I would ask that you please honour this when having information requested by the public also.

In this instance it is particularly relevant given that this FOI pertains to a possible safety issue around the implementation of safeguarding policy.

Yours faithfully,

Finn Keaney

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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[2]http://www.gov.uk/dwp
 
 

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Operations FOI Team,

1 Attachment

Dear Finn Keaney,

I am writing in response to your request for information, received 5th
November.

Yours sincerely,

DWP Central FoI Team

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

I do not accept that the request I have put in is so broad that it would take 3 and a half days to comply with it. I have asked you for new safeguarding guidance / procedure around what to do before stopping payments to claimants, particularly vulnerable claimants, in the wake of the death of Errol Graham and the safeguarding failures which were found to have taken place in that instance. This is a very specific set of guidance which, as noted, Peter Schofield himself has directly referred to in testimony to the Work and Pensions Committee and so in the absolute worst case I can see no reason why it would take 3.5 days to ask Peter Schofield or a member of his team for copies of whichever guidance or policy it was that he was referring to.

I am also aware that in an organisation as large as yours there will be rigorous document control procedures to ensure the correct distribution of documents such as these. This should also provide answers as to who this information was distributed to and when.

I am happy to remove the request for 'training materials pertaining to the above' from this FOI, as well as the request for the recipient lists of this information, should that keep this under the limit of hours but beyond that I do not accept that my having asked for confirmation of a very specific piece of documentation or policy, to whom it was sent, and when, should take an inordinate amount of time as you have suggested.

I trust that the above is sufficient for you to now provide the information requested and I will look forward to your reply.

Yours faithfully,

Finn Keaney

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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[2]http://www.gov.uk/dwp
 
 

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

I just wanted to send a chaser on this as it has now been 10 working days since this should have been responded to and due to the nature of the request and its pertaining to the safeguarding of claimants I would hope that it can be dealt with as a matter of priority.

Yours faithfully,

Finn Keaney

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

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Every effort is being made to respond to FOIs as we would usually but the
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We kindly ask for your understanding during this unprecedented situation
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[2]http://www.gov.uk/dwp
 
 

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Operations FOI Requests, Department for Work and Pensions

Finn,

Your refined request was received by DWP on 4 December, therefore you can expect a response within 20 working days which will be 07 January 2021

Thank you

DWP Freedom of Information Request Team

From: DWP freedom-of-information-requests <[email address]>
Sent: 18 December 2020 11:32
To: 'FOI2020/[email address]' <FOI2020/[email address]>; Operations FOI Requests <[email address]>
Subject: FW: Freedom of Information request - New safeguarding process before stopping claimant benefits

Chaser email attached to FOI2020/77215..

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DWP Central FOI Team,

4 Attachments

Dear Finn Keaney,

I am writing in response to your request for information, received 4th
December.

Yours sincerely,

DWP Central FoI Team

Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Thank you for providing some of the information requested. However I also requested the dates upon which the guidance you have provided was issued. Please advise when the attached documents were issued to your staff. Previous internal documentation of yours I have reviewed has had document numbers, revisions, and issue dates as a standard which this does not.

Yours faithfully,

Finn Keaney

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
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Every effort is being made to respond to FOIs as we would usually but the
current situation means that available Departmental resources will be
needed on other high priority areas.
 
We kindly ask for your understanding during this unprecedented situation
and we will aim to deal with your FOI request as soon as is practically
possible.
 
Email FOI responses will be issued from [1][email address]
We recommend that you add this address to your email contacts otherwise
the response may be treated as Spam or Junk mail.  
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
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[2]http://www.gov.uk/dwp
 
 

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Just sending a chaser on this one as the answer received was missing some information

Yours faithfully,

Finn Keaney

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
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Every effort is being made to respond to FOIs as we would usually but the
current situation means that available Departmental resources will be
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We kindly ask for your understanding during this unprecedented situation
and we will aim to deal with your FOI request as soon as is practically
possible.
 
Email FOI responses will be issued from [1][email address]
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Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
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[2]http://www.gov.uk/dwp
 
 

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Department for Work and Pensions's handling of my FOI request 'New safeguarding process before stopping claimant benefits'.

In your most recent reply you stated that the my request had been logged as of 4th December rather than 5th November, and that as such you stated that the date by which your reply should be with me by was the 7th of January. In your reply you provided (partial, extracts from) the documents requested but not the dates on which those revisions had been issued as requested. I thank you for the information you have provided but ask that you please finish your reply and release this information to me as a matter of urgency.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/n...

Yours faithfully,

Finn Keaney

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FOI mailbox.
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally expect
a response within 20 working days.
 
However please be advised that due to the current situation with COVID-19
we cannot guarantee a response within this timescale.
 
Every effort is being made to respond to FOIs as we would usually but the
current situation means that available Departmental resources will be
needed on other high priority areas.
 
We kindly ask for your understanding during this unprecedented situation
and we will aim to deal with your FOI request as soon as is practically
possible.
 
Email FOI responses will be issued from [1][email address]
We recommend that you add this address to your email contacts otherwise
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Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
[2]http://www.gov.uk/dwp
 
 

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Operations FOI Team,

Dear Finn Keaney,

Our Ref: IR2021/00285

Contact email: [1][email address]

Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FoI) review request, which we
received on 5 January.

You can normally expect a response to your FoI review request within 20
working days (i.e 2 February). However due to the current situation with
COVID-19 it may not be possible for us to reply to you within this
timeframe.

The DWP will make every effort to respond to FoI reviews as we would
usually but the current situation may mean that available Departmental
resources are needed on other high priority areas.

We kindly ask for your understanding during this unprecedented situation
and we will aim to deal with your FOI request as soon as is practically
possible.

If you have any queries about this letter, please contact the department
using the email address and reference number above.

Yours sincerely,

DWP Central FoI Team

Department for Work and Pensions

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Dear Department for Work and Pensions,

It has now been 30 working days since you should have replied to my latest. I am asking that you release the dates that this information was issued to your staff as I have since November 2020. This FOI request pertains to safeguarding and it is not appropriate that you have taken such a long time to fail to release such a basic piece of information.

Yours faithfully,

Finn Keaney

DWP freedom-of-information-requests, Department for Work and Pensions

This is an automated confirmation that your request for information has
been accepted by the DWP FOI mailbox.
 
If your email is a Freedom of Information request you can normally expect
a response within 20 working days.
 
However please be advised that due to the current situation with COVID-19
we cannot guarantee a response within this timescale.
 
Every effort is being made to respond to FOIs as we would usually but the
current situation means that available Departmental resources will be
needed on other high priority areas.
 
We kindly ask for your understanding during this unprecedented situation
and we will aim to deal with your FOI request as soon as is practically
possible.
 
Email FOI responses will be issued from [1][email address]
We recommend that you add this address to your email contacts otherwise
the response may be treated as Spam or Junk mail.  
 
Should you have any further queries in connection with this request do
please contact us.
 
[2]http://www.gov.uk/dwp
 
 

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DWP Central FOI Team,

1 Attachment

Dear Finn Keaney,

I am writing in response to your request for information, received 5th
January.

Yours sincerely,

DWP Central FoI Team