The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has once again been caught red-handed, disseminating grossly misleading information to the public. In a damning rebuke, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) compelled the DWP to retract its inflated claim of a 383% surge in Universal Credit claimants deemed too ill to work—a figure that, in reality, stands at a mere 50% increase.
This blatant manipulation of statistics is not just a minor oversight; it is emblematic of a department that consistently prioritises political agendas over the well-being of the very people it purports to serve – as the DWP’s actions have repeatedly shown.
The DWP: lying about Universal Credit
As the Big Issue reported, the DWP and Labour Party government have been manipulating the public, and the media, over how many people claim Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) under Universal Credit. It noted that:
The statistics regulator said the DWP had inflated the rise in the number of people considered too sick to look for work when it said there had been a 383% increase in less than five years.
OSR said the government department had counted people who had migrated from legacy benefits. The true figure is in fact a 50% increase.
This staggering lie from the DWP has been used as propaganda by the government to justify its cruel cuts to Universal Credit.
As the Canary previously reported, the DWP under Labour is changing the eligibility criteria for Personal Independence Payment (PIP). It is also freezing chronically ill and disabled people’s Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity (LCWRA) elements of Universal Credit, at £97 a week – and reduced them to £47 a week for new claimants – with only people with the most severe conditions able to apply for LCWRA. People under the age of 22 will no longer be able to claim these top-ups under Universal Credit at all.
Initially, the government had claimed that Reeves’ proposed DWP cuts would save them £5 billion. However, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has had to clarify that the savings will actually be £3.4 billion – hence the freeze in LCWRA rates.
The OSR was stark in its verdict on the DWP. It noted that:
The figure does not recognise that the majority of this increase is due to the process of migrating people from legacy benefits, such as employment and support allowance (ESA), to universal credit over the last few years. When these people are accounted for, the actual increase in the number of people claiming disability elements of universal credit is 50%.
Rotten to the core
Despite this, the DWP still showed contempt. As Big Issue reported:
After initially being called out by the OSR, which is the UK’s independent monitor of official statistics, the DWP updated its press notice to reference people moving from other benefits. However, the reference to a 383% increase remained and the OSR has asked for it be removed by 4 April – almost a full month after the claim was first made.
That is, the DWP dragged its heels to continue to manipulate the public in order to prop-up the government’s cuts.
Of course, the corporate media cannot be trusted to call the DWP’s lying and manipulation out for what it is: lying and manipulation. This is how the story has been reported – with all the MSM focusing on what the OSR said:
The DWP’s litany of failures – including this latest piece of statistical deceit – paints a grim picture of an institution that has lost its moral compass.
The human cost of these systemic issues is immeasurable, with countless lives plunged into hardship and despair. It is imperative that the DWP undergoes a radical transformation, prioritsing transparency, compassion, and genuine support for the most vulnerable members of society.
Anything less would be a continued betrayal of public trust and a perpetuation of unnecessary suffering.
Featured image via the Canary
