The Department: How a Violent Government Bureaucracy Killed Hundreds and Hid the Evidence

by John Pring

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 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Through exclusive new research, including historical documents from the National Archives that can be revealed publicly for the first time, The Department describes how slow, bureaucratic violence has led over three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.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction, Audiobook, History, Disability

314 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 20, 2024

Reviews

[Mayu · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is one of the most important books I’ve read this year - in an age where social welfare seems to be more in need than ever, and yet, those who receive it are demonised, this brings back a much needed perspective to the situation at hand. The media chooses to focus on “benefits bandits”, but what about the people who aren’t able to work? Are they any less worthy of a warm house, good food, an adequate state of life? In an era of late stage capitalism where your worth seems to be equal to your ability to return shareholder value, the DWP has acted on that very principle. Shocking, yet unsurprising, disgusting, and truly shameful

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a hugely important piece of work and one that I believe as many people as possible should read in the United Kingdom. It documents the deliberate assault on disabled people and welfare by successive governments from the late 1980s to present day. I would argue that it is particularly important in today’s climate given the lurch towards the far right and the pervasive ableism that has only increased since the start of the pandemic in 2020. I hope people might read this and start to look examine *why* they might see disabled people through a certain (negative) viewpoint and understand who the real villains are. Thank you to John and the many others for the work you do to hold this morally bankrupt department to account.

[holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was difficult to read as it is absolutely devastating. I had to read it in short bursts so as to not be overwhelmed by the sheer horror that is the DWP and it's murderous machinations. Literally abolish it

[Literary Ames]

Guardian: Labour MPs to be given book about the ‘enormous suffering’ caused by Tory welfare reform

[Mickey Dubs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A damning exposé of how the Department of Work and Pensions in collaboration with the private sector created a hostile environment for disabled people and benefit claimants that led to hundreds (potentially even thousands) of deaths.

The book focuses primarily on the impact of the Work Capability Assessment - outsourced to corporations like Capita and Maximus - that, rather farcically, sidelined the expertise of primary care physicians in favour of a twenty minute test conducted by a complete stranger to determine whether a disabled person was 'deserving' of receiving benefits or not. This resulted in a countless number of disabled people being declared 'fit for work' when they were clearly not - leading to widespread mental distress and, in some tragic cases detailed in the book, suicide.

All this was done ostensibly in the name of fiscal prudence and reducing the welfare bill. Although, even as benefits were cut, politicians only ramped up their rhetoric about how people who were unable to work for entirely understandable reasons were in fact scroungers and shirkers, living off the hard work of others - justifying increasingly sadistic 'sanctions' like freezing the benefit payments of claimants who were often already living in poverty. This escalation of what is described by Pring as 'slow, bureaucratic violence' was simply cruelty for cruelty's sake.

[Alexandra Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really shows the abysmal state of the entire social support network in the UK. I would've liked it to have delved a bit more deeply into things like the outsourcing to private companies. There's more of a focus on the personal and individual case studies, which is effective in many ways, but I didn't feel it worked as well as a cohesive, systemic analysis of the different social/political/cultural factors as a whole (although that is probably more suited to something like a social study than this sort of investigative work, so it's not a major criticism).

[Kl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Tis a record of people who had faced extreme mental distress under the conservative government through increasing the stringency criteria under which incapacity benefits could have been claimed. It demonstrated circumstances in which the media excessively blamed disabled people for the government's budget deficit.

However, I'm not a fan of the writing style. It appears too technical when regarding crucial parts of the lives that were mentioned.

[Vikki Sewell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for everyone on how the DWP has been corrupted and vulnerable people have been villainised and abused by the very people, and system that was meant to help them.
The true stories that need to be told and heard for real change to happen

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Makes you want to reach into the book and throttle those responsible for killing so many vulnerable people.