DWP admits making up 'happy' benefit claimant case studies

Work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith

(Image credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images))

published 19 August 2015

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has admitted that "happy" benefits claimants featured in one of its leaflets were fictitious – and their quotes fabricated. The leaflet has been withdrawn, after mocking additions trended on Twitter.The leaflet featured pictures of "Zac", "Sarah" and others, which turned out to be stock photographs of models presented as claimants, accompanied by lengthy quotations illustrating how sanctions on their payments had ultimately helped them.Smiling "Sarah" explained that her benefits were reduced because she at first failed to make a CV. After she was told her payments were reduced, she decided to comply.Her 'statement' said the benefits were now back to normal and concluded: "I'm really pleased with how my CV looks. It's going to help me when I'm ready to go back to work."However, it emerged that there was no Sarah when the website Welfare Weekly made a Freedom of Information request. The site says that "within days" of its request, the online version of the leaflet disappeared from the DWP site.The stock photographs were replaced with silhouettes and included a disclaimer admitting the people quoted "aren't real". That version has since been removed as well.In the meantime, the story trended on Twitter under the hashtag #fakeDWPstories, with tweeters posting their own concocted stories about benefits sanctions.

The DWP told The Guardian: "The photos used are stock photos and along with the names do not belong to real claimants. The stories are for illustrative purposes only."We want to help people understand when sanctions can be applied and how they can avoid them by taking certain actions. Using practical examples can help us achieve this."However, Labour leadership candidate Jeremy Corbyn said: "The fact that the DWP has to make up quotes from benefit claimants saying sanctions are helping them, presumably because they can't find anyone who says they are, not only shows how out of touch the Tories are, but also the effects their ideologically driven policies are having on people's lives."The Guardian points out that the Advertising Standards Authority says marketing communications "must not materially mislead or be likely to do so" and marketers "must hold documentary evidence that a testimonial or endorsement used in a marketing communication is genuine, unless it is obviously fictitious".