The DWP has lost more employment tribunals for disability discrimination than any other employer in Britain for the past four years.
A BBC Panorama programme airing tonight on BBC1 at 8.30pm collated the evidence from publicly available data.
One in eight DWP staff identify as disabled. The DWP spent nearly £1 million on tribunal payments and out of court settlements between 2016 and December 2019.
A spopkesperson for the DWP said it was "shocked" and was reviewing its processes.
DR UK's Ken Butler said: “That the DWP has lost more disability discrimination cases at employment tribunal than any other employer will ony reinforce its lack of trust among disabled people. It is a bitter irony that the DWP runs the Disability Confident scheme aimed at encouraging and advising employers to take on disabled people. Trust comes from what an organisation does not what it says. That the DWP itself is “shocked” by the level of disability discrimination it has allowed shows it has lost a grip on how it serves disabled people. It needs to take urgent transparent steps to reverse a “culture” in which the needs of disable people are ignored or they are actively harmed.”
You can read more on this story on the BBC website here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51756783
Other DWP stories
DWP offers 'deal or no deal benefits: https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2020/march/dwp-offers-%E2%80%98deal-or-no-deal%E2%80%99-benefits
DWP destroyed reports into claimants who committed suicide after their benefits were stopped: https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2020/february/dwp-destroyed-reports-claimants-who-committed-suicide-after-their-benefits-were