Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many overpayments of carer’s allowance of (a) £0.01 - £500, (b) £500.01 - £1,000, (c) £1,000.01 - £5,000, (d) £5,000.01 - £20,000 and (e) more than £20,000 were made in the (i) 2021-22, (ii) 2022-23 and (iii) 2023-24 financial years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses.
Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. However, we seek to do so without causing excessive hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.
Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.
The information requested has been provided in the table below.
Carer’s Allowance Debt Value Grouping | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
£0.01 - £500.00 | 26.4k | 20.3k | 28.0k |
£500.01 - £1000.00 | 12.2k | 11.4k | 11.9k |
£1000.01 - £5000.00 | 18.4k | 16.4k | 18.6k |
£5000.01 - £20,000.00 | 2.9k | 1.3k | 1.3k |
Over £20,000.00 | 0.1k | 0.1k | 0.0k |
Total | 60.1k | 49.5k | 59.9k |
The above data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many debts of overpayments of Carer's Allowance his Department was seeking to recover in value brackets (a) £0.01 - £500, (b) £500.01 - £1,000, (c) £1,000.01 - £5,000, (d) £5,000.01 - £20,000 and (e) over £20,000 as of 6 April 2024.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses.
Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. However, we seek to do so without causing excessive hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.
Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.
The information requested has been provided in the table below.
Carer’s Allowance Debt Value Grouping | Volume of Carer’s Allowance Debts |
£0.01 - £500.00 | 61.9k |
£500.01 - £1000.00 | 29.7k |
£1000.01 - £5000.00 | 53.2k |
£5000.01 - £20,000.00 | 11.3k |
Over £20,000.00 | 0.3k |
Total | 156.3k |
The above data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.
Data is taken as a snapshot as at 03/04/2024, the closest date we can obtain to 06/04/2024. |
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many overpayments of Carer’s Allowance there have been in relation to the earnings conditions in each of the last three years.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses.
Where overpayments do occur, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. However, we seek to do so without causing excessive hardship. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.
Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.
The information requested has been provided in the table below.
Financial Year | 2021/22 | 2022/23 | 2023/24 |
Volume of Carer’s Allowance (CA) Debts | 36.1k | 30.7k | 34.5k |
The above data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department provided between 1 September 2023 and 23 February 2024 to people who wished to apply for a lump sum payment under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 who had (a) been awarded Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit as they had unilateral but not bilateral Pleural Thickening, PD9 and (b) been awarded Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit for asbestos-related lung cancer based on their employment history but had not been diagnosed with asbestosis, PD8A.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
Regulations which widened potential Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 scheme entitlement to include sufferers of unilateral diffuse pleural thickening and asbestos-related primary carcinoma of the lung (without asbestosis) came into force on 23 February 2024. Once the Department identified that these customers were not previously entitled to an award under the Pneumoconiosis etc. (Workers’ Compensation) Act 1979 scheme, the Department’s priority was to amend the relevant legislation as quickly as possible.
An initial letter was sent on 09 January 2024 notifying asbestos support groups of the situation, and the Department’s intention to amend the legislation, and a follow-up letter was sent to asbestos support groups on 26 February 2024, confirming that the new regulations had now come into force.
Eligible customers should receive award notifications as usual when their claim is processed.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Access to Work scheme for people with a musculoskeletal condition.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The Department does collect information on Access to Work recipient's primary medical condition, however, we do not hold information to the level required to identify people with musculoskeletal conditions. Therefore, we cannot assess the effectiveness of Access to Work scheme for people with a musculoskeletal condition.
Information on Access to Work volumes and expenditure by primary medical condition are published annually in the official statistics: Access to Work statistics: April 2007 to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the (a) numbers and (b) cost to the public purse of PIP claims from claimants with untreatable conditions who were successful at Tribunal; and what proportion of these were repeat Tribunal cases.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
The information requested is not available.
Detailed statistics on PIP can be found on Stat-Xplore. The department holds data on a range of conditions. However, these are not collected in a way that allows them to be defined as untreatable. You can view the disability categories here.
Guidance on how to use Stat-Xplore can be found here.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether all (a) claimant tribunal decisions are held on the Personal Independence Payment Computer System and (b) assessment provider health professionals have access to (i) those decisions and (ii) other relevant supporting evidence when making a recommendation on whether a benefit should continue to be awarded.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
In response to part (a), we can confirm that PIPCS does hold details of tribunal decisions. The decision itself is held as a digital image.
In response to part (b), providers would be able to see the outcome of the tribunal decision. They can view supporting evidence held, including documents sent in by a claimant to support an appeal. These would be scanned and held on PIPCS. Providers can also see information input by DWP Service Delivery colleagues in Decision Assist notes, as well as any ephemeral documents held on the system.
The tribunal decision and supporting information can be used by providers to support their recommendations.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made a comparative assessment of the effectiveness of the (a) Support for Mortgage Interest scheme and (b) pre-April 2018 scheme.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
We recently extended the support SMI provides by offering Universal Credit claimants a loan after three months, instead of nine, and extending to in-work UC claimants. These changes allow more UC claimants to access SMI, and therefore better protect against repossession, than when SMI was paid as a benefit.
No comparative assessment has been made. Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) transitioned from a benefit to a loan in April 2018. The support provided as a loan is calculated at the same level as it was when it was a benefit, therefore it provides the same level of protection for individuals against repossession. Loans are only repayable from any available equity when the property is sold or the claimant dies.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme at supporting homeowners with rising mortgage costs.
Answered by Mims Davies - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
SMI provides reasonable support by making a contribution towards mortgage interest to protect claimants against the threat of repossession. The rate of SMI is based on the average mortgage rate published by the Bank of England and recently increased from 2.09% to 2.65% in May 2023. Any further changes will occur when the average mortgage rate differs by 0.5 percentage points or more from the rate in payment.
To support mortgage borrowers with rising interest rates, on 3 April 2023, we extended SMI by offering Universal Credit claimants a loan after three months, instead of nine and extended to in-work UC claimants.
No assessment has been made of the adequacy of Support for Mortgage interest (SMI) since interest rates have risen, although the Department continues to monitor the impact of our policies on an on-going basis.
Asked by: Margaret Greenwood (Labour - Wirral West)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many FTE staff in his Department have been working on overpayments in respect of Carer’s Allowance and its earnings conditions in each of last 10 years; and whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of those staffing numbers in supporting this function.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Carers Allowance has a commitment to action any debt case once identified within 56 days. The resourcing of this work can vary in line with demand and competing priorities.