Internal Process Reviews (IPRs): April 2023 to March 2024
Published 4 November 2024
© Crown copyright 2024
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/internal-process-reviews-iprs-april-2023-to-march-2024/internal-process-reviews-iprs-april-2023-to-march-2024
Purpose
This data presents Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) management information on Internal Process Reviews (IPRs) from April 2023 to March 2024.
This data is published in the interest of transparency and to correct its omission from the department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2023 to 2024.
Further information and data on IPRs can be found in pages 79 to 81 of the DWP annual report and accounts 2023 to 2024.
Internal Process Reviews
Internal Process Reviews (IPRs) are an opportunity for the department to understand customers’ experiences and to ensure DWP’s people have followed the correct processes. Where this is not the case, they seek to understand why, to inform future learning activity to improve services.
IPRs do not look to investigate a customer’s death; the responsibility for investigating and concluding the cause of death of citizens sits with doctors or sometimes coroners, and DWP has an established channel for coroners to liaise with the Department if required.
An IPR will be conducted in all cases where:
- there is a suggestion or allegation that the department’s actions or omissions may have negatively contributed to the customer’s circumstances, and a customer has suffered serious harm, has died (including by suicide), or where it has reason to believe there has been an attempted suicide
or
- the department is asked to participate in a Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR), a Significant Case Review (SCR, Scotland only), a Domestic Homicide Review (DHR), or is named as an Interested Party at an Inquest. An IPR will be conducted regardless of whether there is an allegation against the department
IPRs can only be referred internally, but colleagues with external interactions (such as Advanced Customer Support Senior Leaders and complaints teams) act on information received from outside the department, for example from MPs, Local Authorities, and customers’ families.
Any colleague within DWP can refer a case to be considered for an IPR, and these will be conducted in all cases where the criteria is met.
Across 2023 to 2024, 75 IPR referrals were received, of which 53 met the criteria and were accepted for an IPR.
Cases received for IPRs can cover more than one DWP service line as customers may have more than one benefit in payment, meaning the customer can have more than one primary service line recorded for the IPR.
The following chart shows the primary service lines relating to the customers’ cases accepted for IPRs across 2023 to 2024.
Accepted IPRs by Primary Service Line 2023 to 2024
| Primary Service Line | Number of cases accepted for IPR |
|---|---|
| Universal Credit | 31 |
| Personal Independence Payment | 27 |
| Employment and Support Allowance | 15 |
| Child Maintenance Service | 3 |
| State Pension | 2 |
| Disability Living Allowance | 1 |
Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics
The Code of Practice for Statistics is built around 3 main concepts, or pillars:
- Trustworthiness – this is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics
- Quality – is about using data and methods that produce assured statistics
- Value – is about publishing statistics that support society’s needs for information
The following explains how we have applied the pillars of the Code in a proportionate way.
Trustworthiness
The figures are based on operational management information collected via a clerical tracker.
Quality
This publication uses data drawn from a clerical tracker. Quality assurance has taken place to ensure the data is as accurate and reliable as possible.
Value
In publishing this data, we aim to support the information needs of society, parliamentarians, and stakeholders, and maintain transparency between the DWP and the public.