Safeguarding in DWP (Pat McFadden)

I wish to update the House on the actions my department has taken following the conclusion of the safeguarding review, and consideration of consultation findings.

This fulfils a commitment made by the department in response to the Work and Pensions Select Committee inquiry on Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults in July 2025.

Safeguarding is a serious issue that demands transparency, accountability, and collaboration across Government. I reaffirm my Department’s commitment to safeguarding and our responsibility to protect individuals from harm, abuse, and neglect wherever we encounter it in the course of our work.

Actions taken since the Committee’s report

I thank the Committee for its thorough inquiry and for its recommendations, which have shaped next steps. Since the Committee’s report, we have:

assessed our safeguarding approach, defining safeguarding in line with key legislation including: Care Act 2014, Domestic Abuse Act 2021, Children Act 1989, and Human Rights Act 1998developed an approach built on three simple steps: Recognise, Respond and Report - a standard approach to safeguarding used by other organisationschecked our approach against statutory standards, with support from an independent safeguarding expertlistened to safeguarding professionals and the public through the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation, and selected roundtablesrun a Department-wide safeguarding survey, as recommended by the Committee

This assessment found some good practice, but also variation in awareness, skills, and accountability. That is why we need a consistent, joined-up approach.

Delivering improvements

Safeguarding must be part of everything we do. As I stated to the Committee on 19 November, it should be systems based. Put simply, safeguarding should be a central part of how we deliver our services, making safeguarding everyone’s business.

Our multi-year strategy starts with strong leadership and clear accountability. We have an executive lead, a dedicated safeguarding team, and clear governance.

Year One (which starts now) will focus on raising staff awareness of safeguarding responsibilities, building capability through training, and strengthening relationships with local authorities, health services, and voluntary organisations. Year One deliverables include:

continue rolling out Level 1 safeguarding training for non-clinical rolescontinue mandatory Level 3 safeguarding training for clinical teamsset out and communicate safeguarding roles and responsibilities so everyone in DWP understands the role they play, explained through internal guidance and communicationsenhance our existing processes so colleagues can more consistently recognise, respond to, and report safeguarding concernsstrengthen escalation routes for colleagues with safeguarding concernsreview and strengthen existing Internal Process Review processes to enhance clinical learningensure our clinical workforce are recruited in line with NHS standards which includes undertaking an enhanced security check every 3 yearsby the end of Year One, publish a DWP Safeguarding policy framework which will set out our comprehensive approach

From Year Two, work will focus on how safeguarding is being built into how the Department operates and assess how well the initial steps are working.

Over Years Three to Five, we will focus on continuous improvement. We will explore digital solutions to capture safeguarding activity and further embed a learning culture that ensures safeguarding remains integral to everything we do.

Statutory safeguarding duty

Our immediate priority is to make safeguarding everyone’s business, with clear steps to recognise, respond to, and report concerns. The Department remains open to adopting a statutory duty to refer safeguarding concerns appropriately. Our priority is to ensure that our internal safeguarding approach is robust, consistent, and fully integrated across the Department.

Safeguarding must be a system-wide endeavour. It requires transparency, accountability, and collaboration across Government and with partners.

We have a clear way forward. We have recognised the gaps, we have identified solutions, and we have begun to deliver.

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wms/?id=2025-12-08.hcws1138.0

seen at 10:09, 9 December in Written Ministerial Statements.