Silence from MP sister of Rachel Reeves over suicide linked to PIP flaws, just as government was seeking cuts

Labour’s chair has refused to answer questions about a disabled constituent whose suicide was closely linked to flaws in the personal independence payment (PIP) system, just as her government was trying to cut PIP spending by billions of pounds a year.

Three months after an ombudsman found that failings within the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and its PIP system were a factor in the death of Tracie, from south London, her MP, Ellie Reeves, is still refusing to comment on that report’s findings.

Reeves is chair of the Labour party and a Cabinet Office minister, but she is also the sister of chancellor Rachel Reeves, who many disabled people blame for the government’s decision to attempt to slash spending on PIP and other disability-related benefits.

The ombudsman’s ruling was delivered to Tracie’s husband, Mustapha, just five days after Rachel Reeves announced, at the spring statement, that she would be making cuts to PIP spending of £4.5 billion a year by 2029-30.

It was Ellie Reeves, the MP for Lewisham West and East Dulwich, who referred the case to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman in December 2021, when Labour was still in opposition, and her office has supported Mustapha for nearly five years. 

But since the ombudsman finally produced its report in March, Mustapha has not yet been able to discuss its contents with his MP.

He was originally told that Reeves was happy to discuss the report but had not yet received a copy, so he visited her office last month and posted a hard copy through the letterbox after an emailed copy apparently did not reach her.

Her office claims it did not receive a copy of the report until 18 June.

The ombudsman has apologised for not sending her a copy on publication, as it usually would; it finally emailed her a copy this week, but it is not clear why her office did not attempt to secure a copy of such an important report herself.

A member of her casework team has now told Mustapha that she – although not the MP – would be happy to discuss the report with him.

Mustapha has provided permission to Ellie Reeves to discuss the case with Disability News Service (DNS). 

But the MP has so far failed to respond to questions from DNS, including what conclusions she has reached about the safety of the PIP system, in the context of the billions of pounds her sister has been trying to cut from PIP spending, and whether she would be taking any action on her constituent’s behalf.

Reeves has also refused to comment on the possible harm that could be caused to other disabled people like Tracie if the billions of pounds of cuts to PIP had gone ahead.

DNS first put the questions to Reeves on 7 April, nearly three months ago.

The ombudsman had concluded that DWP’s failings in dealing with Tracie’s PIP claim were a “significant contributing factor” in her decision to take her own life in March 2020.

Tracie’s mental health had been stable, but she “spiralled into a deep depression” after DWP removed the daily living part of her PIP following a review of her eligibility in July 2019.

The ombudsman concluded that DWP – which eventually admitted that its decision on her claim had been wrong – failed to consider the relevant evidence properly.

The ombudsman is now looking at whether DWP needs to make “wider changes to its service and the way it considers benefit claims”, as part of a broader piece of work which includes an investigation into the death of another disabled claimant.

Asked for an update on this work, a spokesperson for the ombudsman said: “This work involves an ongoing investigation. 

“By law we investigate in private so we cannot comment further on this.”

DWP eventually decided – after her death – that Tracie should have been entitled to the enhanced daily living rate of PIP.

DWP accepted that Tracie had needed help from another person to get in and out of the bath; couldn’t wash all her body herself; relied on incontinence pads; needed assistance to take her medication; had paranoid thoughts and felt anxious when others were around; rarely left the house; avoided mixing with other people; and experienced significant mental distress and suicidal thoughts.

But despite her significant support needs, the report shows that someone with Tracie’s level of impairment would not have qualified for even the standard rate of the daily living part of PIP if the chancellor’s cuts had been implemented from November 2026.

This is because to qualify for PIP daily living, a new claimant would have needed at least four points in at least one “activity”, and the most Tracie qualified for in any single activity was three points.

The ombudsman’s findings have therefore been posing a political headache for Ellie Reeves, although that eased this week when a chaotic parliamentary debate saw ministers withdraw all cuts to PIP from the universal credit and personal independence payment bill, with future cuts not to be considered until after a ministerial review (see separate stories).

The ombudsman finally sent Reeves a copy of the report on Monday, three days after DNS had asked when the MP had received the report. 

A spokesperson for the ombudsman said: “The usual procedure after a parliamentary investigation is closed is that the report would be sent to the referring MP on the same day as the complainant and organisation involved. 

“In this case, human error meant the report was not sent to the MP. 

“We have apologised to the complainant and MP for this error. 

“We will learn from this mistake to prevent it from happening again in the future.”

*The following organisations are among those that could be able to offer support if you have been affected by issues raised in this article:  Mind, Papyrus, Rethink, Samaritans, and SOS Silence of Suicide

Credit for this article goes to John Pring with the Disability News Service