Mother fears benefit cuts will lead to more deaths like her daughter's

Channel 4

3 days ago

Words by Jamie Roberton.
The mother of a woman who died after her benefits were incorrectly stopped has told Channel 4 News that she fears there will be more deaths like her daughter's because of
imminent benefits cuts
.
Jodey Whiting, of Stockton-on-Tees, was housebound with chronic physical pain and mental health problems before she took her own life in 2017, just two weeks after her Employment Support Allowance (ESA) was denied because she was deemed fit to work.
A senior coroner concluded on Monday that the wrongful withdrawal of the 42-year-old's benefits was 'the trigger' to her taking her own life, highlighting five missed opportunities by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to recognise her vulnerabilities and reverse the decision.
It was the second inquest into the mother of nine's death, with the first lasting just 37 minutes and making no reference to the actions of the DWP.
Joy Dove – who fought for eight years for the role of the DWP to be scrutinised – said the department's actions towards her daughter had been 'brutal', but feared lessons had still not been learned.
The government has outlined plans to cut the welfare bill in the aim of saving £5 billion a year by 2030.
'More people have died in the eight years since Jodey and with these cuts coming, wanting to take more money off people, it is going to be terrible – it is going to be worse and worse,' Ms Dove said.
'I can just see more Jodeys because people won't cope.'
A DWP representative told the inquest that the department was 'deeply regretful' over the failings in Ms Whiting's case, pledging that 'a culture shift from being process driven to being much more compassionate' was underway.
'I can just see more Jodeys because people won't cope.'
– Joy Dove
Ms Whiting had suffered with chronic pain for years, with curvature of the spine and a later diagnosis of a brain cyst.
A spell in hospital with pneumonia in December 2016 meant that Ms Whiting missed a letter about her benefits, informing her that she would need to be medically assessed.
In January 2017, she was told that she had missed the appointment and was therefore judged fit to work. She was also due to lose her housing and council tax benefits.
Ms Dove said her daughter was 'shaking, crying' at the news, becoming increasingly distressed despite her mother's attempts to help.
Ms Dove discovered her daughter's body on 21 February 2017, later describing how she 'just started screaming and fell back.'
Extracts from notes found in Ms Whiting's flat described her panic at not being able to pay her bills and having no food, with one note saying: 'debt, debt, debt.'
Another read: 'I have had enough.'
An Independent Case Examiner (ICE) report, published in 2019, had already identified a number of serious failings in the DWP's handling of Ms Whiting's case, even finding the department had repeatedly tried to contact her after her death.
'They wrote a letter saying she was fit to work – and she was in the undertakers.'
– Joy Dove
The report identified multiple missed opportunities, including: a failure to contact Ms Whiting's GP as she had requested; a failure to contact Ms Whiting to arrange a safeguarding visit after she missed her appointment; and a refusal to consider her request for a medical assessment to be carried out at her home.
'They decided that she was fit to work but all the evidence was there,' Ms Dove said. 'They didn't bother to phone, they didn't bother to go to the door, go to the doctors. It was just like, 'tick them off, tick them off'.'
'It was so brutal.'
Claire Bailey, the senior coroner for Teeside, concluded that Ms Whiting's death was suicide 'in the context of a deteriorating mental state, precipitated by the withdrawal of state benefits.'
She also cited evidence from a psychiatrist who said Ms Whiting's loss of benefits was 'the straw that broke the camel's back.'
Ms Whiting's inquest conclusion came just weeks after a group of MPs demanded 'deep-rooted cultural change' at the DWP following a spate of tragedies.
The Work and Pensions Committee found there had been at least 240 internal reviews since 2020 where there had been an allegation that the DWP may have contributed to death or harm, although the actual figure was likely to be 'much higher.'
Coroners were also found to have issued 9 Future Prevention of Death reports to the DWP since 2013.
Debbie Abrahams MP, the Labour chair of the committee, described the findings as 'unacceptable' saying DWP culture had been 'geared to getting people into work, sometimes by means that are completely inappropriate.'
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer recently described the benefits system as 'the worst of all worlds' and the number of people out of work or training as 'indefensible and unfair.'
Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall has defended the planned £5 billion in cuts amid deep misgivings from Labour backbenchers, arguing the savings were necessary to prevent the welfare system's collapse.
Merry Varney, senior partner at Leigh Day who represented Ms Dove, told Channel 4 News: 'There probably still is some culture at the DWP of not wanting to accept that these decisions can cause such serious harm and death.
'They have been very reluctant to allow open, transparent investigations and show that they're willing to learn from the mistakes that have been made and lives have been lost because of it.'
– Merry Varney
Ms Dove said she hoped the coroner's conclusion after her eight-year battle meant Jodey's 'death had not been in vain.'
Paying tribute to her daughter, Ms Dove said: 'She was just brilliant. She bought me birthday cards and Mother's Day cards. They were all beautiful with verses, telling me how much she loved me.'
'She was so lovely.'
A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said:
'We continue to offer our sincerest condolences to Jodey Whiting's family.
'We will consider the coroner's full findings and use them to build further on the improvements the department has already made to protect and support vulnerable claimants.'
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