You asked
From the information held, we'd be grateful if you would kindly provide the total number of recorded UK deaths from 1st January 2015 to the most recent available where those cases mention 'The Department for Work and Pensions' or 'DWP'.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
We are responsible for publishing mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales, using the information supplied on the death certificate. The most recent year for which mortality statistics are available is 2017.
Following a search of our records I can confirm that we do not currently hold the information you have requested. This is because the information we hold is based on the death registration form which mainly contains the medical conditions leading to death, not any surrounding circumstances.
However, we may be able to create what you have requested, or something similar, as a bespoke analysis. This is because some coroners may have recorded extra information beyond the medical causes of death which might possibly mention the DWP. We will not know this until we carry out the necessary analysis. Any such analysis would be outside of the Freedom of Information regime and would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreement of costs where appropriate. If this is something you would be interested in, please contact mortality@ons.gov.uk so that we may discuss your enquiry further. For more information about the services we offer please visit our website.