DWP spends £50,000 trying to stop release of review into 4st man's death

The Department for Work and Pensions spent £50,000 trying to stop the release of a review into a disabled man's death. Errol Graham starved to death in June 2018 after the DWP wrongly stopped his out-of-work disability benefits. More than £50,000 of taxpayers’ money was spent on lawyers to try to prevent the release of a safeguarding review ordered after Mr Graham died.

The information commissioner ordered the department in 2022 to release the results of the review, which the DWP had been trying to keep secret for two years. The 57-year-old weighed just four and a half stone when his body was found by bailiffs who were trying to evict him, eight months after his benefits were stopped. Despite spending £35,600 on solicitors and £15,400 on a barrister, the DWP’s appeal was dismissed and the information was disclosed to Owen Stevens, a universal credit adviser at the Child Poverty Action Group.



READ MORE All parts of England that WON'T see snow this weekend according to Met Office A DWP spokesperson said the department complied with FoI guidance, but added: “Occasionally we exercise our right to challenge decisions from the Information Commissioner’s Office, which can incur legal costs. These are justified to ensure we are protecting and handling information lawfully in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act.” Labour MP Debbie Abrahams, speaking in the wake of Mr Graham's death, said: “Particularly worrying are the deaths of vulnerable claimants like Errol, following the DWP stopping their payments.

This is in spite of departmental procedures which are meant to protect vulnerable people. This has to be looked at as a matter of urgency.” The DWP said it took Graham’s death seriously and had referred the case to a newly created serious case panel process to learn lessons.

The panel’s terms of reference had not been formalised, but its members would be DWP civil servants. A DWP spokesperson said: “This is a tragic, complex case and our sympathies are with Mr Graham’s family.”.