The reported suicide of a Birkenhead man who lost a benefits battle prompted a scathing report revealing the scores of people whose suicides have been investigated by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP).
The damning report also suggested there have been many more tragic cases that the department has never looked into at all.
The National Audit Investigation was asked for by former Birkenhead MP Frank Field, who told Parliament in July that one of his disabled constituents had taken his own life shortly after losing his Personal Independence Payments.
Shorlty after this, Mr Field tabled a parliamentary question, asking '"how many inquests relating to benefits claimants who have ended their life by suicide the DWP has submitted evidence to since 2013 - and how many inquests it was ruled that the policies of (the) department were partly responsible for the deceased person's state of mind."
The DWP told the then MP that: "Unfortunately, the information requested is not held centrally and is therefore unavailable without incurring a disproportionate cost."
Unhappy with the response, Mr Field asked the NAO to launch a formal investigation - which has raised major questions about how the DWP has investigated suicides in recent years.
This NAO briefing, published this week, confirmed that the DWP has launched Internal Process Reviews into 69 suicides of benefit claimants since 2014/15.
And although the briefing did not conclude what might have triggered people's deaths, it warned: "It is highly unlikely that the 69 cases the DWP has investigated represents the number of cases it could have investigated.
"The DWP does not have a robust record of all contact from coroners."
The NAO said DWP guidance "has not always been clear" about when to investigate, not all staff were aware of the guidance, and guidance did not reflect the full scope of issues that trigger a probe.
It added the DWP has "only recently taken a more proactive approach" to investigating suicides - despite years of claims that Tory welfare reforms were linked to people's deaths.
The report revealed just nine of the probes began thanks to contact from a coroner. That compared to 19 that were launched due to media coverage of someone's death.
Mr Field, who lost his Birkenhead seat in the December General Election, has now called for a full investigation into the DWP's processes and for "the necessary changes to be made, so that nobody is ever put into this situation again."
Labour's Shadow Minister for Disabled People Marsha De Cordova said: "The Department has once again shown that it lacks any accountability or care for tragic cases relating to social security claims.
"The Government must immediately establish a broader independent inquiry into deaths related to social security."
A DWP spokeswoman said: "Suicide is a devastating and complex issue. We take these matters and the NAO’s findings extremely seriously.
"We are urgently working to drive forward improvements and learn the lessons from these tragic cases.
"We will now carefully consider the NAO’s findings as part of our ongoing work."
