Of course, the "What would you prefer, to have a benefits sanction or ahem freely admit that

 'this test and the DWP are both simply brilliant; both make me feel so much better about myself'" question, may have influenced that just slightly.

"The Cabinet Office, which is handling press inquiries about the investigation, has said the tests are supported by "strong academic literature and  that they had received "strong positive feedback from jobseekers who took the test"

"The strengths survey is a voluntary exercise jobseekers can undertake to help rebuild self-confidence and identify character strength," a spokesman said. "It is important to note that this is not a workplace test and the survey output is for use by the claimants themselves."

The tests, called My Strengths, were exposed by bloggers in April and include questions such as: "I never go out of my way to visit museums," and: "I have not created anything of beauty in the last year".

A letter to job seekers said the character test was "scientifically shown to find people's strengths" "Failure to comply with this direction may result in loss of benefit," it added.

The DWP has always maintained that taking the test was never mandatory but in an FOI response at the end of May, the DWP were forced to reveal that although it was policy not to threaten jobseekers to take the 48-question survey, a small number had in fact been "directed" to complete it."