In the early 2010s, reports began to emerge of deaths that were being linked to a government department. Suicide notes, coroners’ reports, and investigations by public bodies pointed to failings within the Department for Work and Pensions—the DWP—the government body responsible for the disability benefits system.
As years passed, and austerity tightened its grip, the death toll mounted, and an even more disturbing picture developed: how bureaucracy, politicians, and the private sector had combined over thirty years to reckless, deadly effect.
For the last decade, disabled journalist John Pring has meticulously pieced together how the DWP ignored pleas to correct fatal flaws in the social security system and covered up its role in the deaths of hundreds, if not thousands, of disabled people. Spending years researching the heartbreaking stories of ten individuals who died, we hear of how their bereaved families have fought for justice and accountability.
Through exclusive new research, including historical documents from the National Archives that can be revealed publicly for the first time, The Department describes how slow, bureaucratic violence has led over three decades to the deaths of countless disabled people who relied on the state’s support.