OLDHAM East and Saddleworth MP Debbie Abrahams has hit out at the government's work and pensions department over its failure to records of contact with coroners.

This follows a string of at least 69 suicides by social security claimants.

Ms Abrahams has spoken following a report by the National Audit Office which shows that the Department of Work and Pensions has no reliable record of contact with coroners, or improvements to its service.

The MP, who is a member of the work and pensions select committee and a leading figure in the campaign for a full, independent inquiry into the issue, said: “The National Audit Office’s (NAO) finding that the Department of Work and Pensions does not have a robust record of contact from coroners is a damning indictment of the various Government ministers who have refused my repeated requests for a full, independent inquiry into this matter over the last few years.

“Every time I’ve asked for an inquiry I’ve been told by government minister, after government minister, that they have carried out their own internal investigations and improved their service.

“This NAO report blows that assertion out of the water and and even goes on to say the department does not even know whether any of its suggested improvements have been implemented and accepts not all its staff are aware of their own internal process guidance.

“Once again I demand that the Government activates a full, independent inquiry into the deaths of social security claimants linked to the actions, and decisions, of the DWP."

And she added: “No more excuses and prevarication; people are dying, enough is enough.”