From my experience the key problem with DWP staff is that most of those on the front line have gone feral, needing little encouragement to bully and sanction the most vulnerable.

Psychologists point out that many people will develop sociopathic traits in conducive situations, and (as in Hitler’s Germany) this has taken place in jobcentres up and down the country. With intensive psychotherapy, some such individuals can be rehabilitated, but I don’t see this being on offer any time soon to DWP workers (whose employee ‘welfare’ service is overseen by the creepy Institute of Welfare, which promotes a doctrine of ‘Workplace Resilience’ closely related to UNUM’s BPS Model of disability).

In the interests of protecting the vulnerable and avoiding deaths and suicides (among claimants) Rachel should be rolling out an independent psychological evaluation test (overseen by a reputable body such as the British Psychological Society) to screen all DWP staff for traits of psychopathy, sociopathy, sadism, hostility, aggression, prejudice, irresponsibility, etc. Any who test positive should have their files marked to ensure they are not permitted to work with vulnerable groups (including carrying out any form of decision making or paper-based assessments) until they have undergone psychiatric treatment and been certified as clear.

Another thing Rachel should urgently do is to move all disability benefits and retirement pensions back under the umbrella of the Department of Health (where they used to be administered before the days of Peter Lilley and John Major). It was a cruel mistake to ever lump disability issues together with (un)employment, and it needs to be reversed. If she did so it might help repair her seriously damaged credibilty with disabled citizens and pensioners, some of whom may still be alive in 2015.