THE PCS union has backed calls for the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) to adopt a legal safeguarding duty for vulnerable benefits claimants.

More than 20 disability and welfare rights organisations and charities have told a Commons work & pensions committee inquiry they supported the move.

In its written response, Disability Rights UK said the department’s refusal to accept that it had a statutory safeguarding responsibility to claimants in vulnerable situations was not only shocking and shameful but also dangerous, with any harm caused to claimants by the department falling “to other services such as the NHS and social care to mop up.”