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.
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 the average length of time is that overpayment debts in respect of earnings conditions of Carer’s Allowance have been outstanding providing figures for the last year available.
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.
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 carers (a) have earnings and are eligible for Carer’s Allowance but do not receive Universal Credit and (b) receive Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit as of 1 February 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The department does not hold data on the number of carers eligible for Carer’s Allowance, but not receiving it.
The latest data the department holds on the number of carers receiving Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit is from August 2022. As of August 2022, around 334,000 carers were receiving both Carer’s Allowance and Universal Credit.
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 the earnings 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 providing figures for the latest available year.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Table 1 details the number of live Carer’s Allowance overpayments the department is seeking to recover, by the value brackets requested, as of 1st February 2023.
Overpayment Value | Volume of Overpayments |
£0.01 - £500 | 55,010 |
£500.01 - £1,000 | 50,753 |
£1,000.01 - £5,000 | 27,761 |
£5,000.01 - £20,000 | 11,773 |
Over £20,000 | 270 |
Total | 145,567 |
Table 1 - Note: Data is for England, Wales and Scotland only, and represents overpayments held with balances greater than £0.00.
Table 2 details the number of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance for the last available year (2022/23) where the reason for overpayment was recorded as earnings over the Carer’s Allowance limit. The actual amount of earnings received is not captured. The bandwidths used therefore relate to the amount overpaid.
Overpayment Value | Number of overpayments (2022/23) |
£0.01 - £500 | 7,121 |
£500.01 - £1,000 | 7,271 |
£1,000.01 - £5,000 | 11,476 |
£5,000.01 - £20,000 | 835 |
Over £20,000 | 36 |
Total | 26,739 |
Table 2 - Note: Data includes devolved overpayments from Scotland but excludes Northern Ireland.
Table 3 details the number of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance there have been in relation to the earnings conditions for the past 5 years.
Going further back, the data excludes overpayments fully repaid – details of which are archived after 14 months and fully deleted after 7 years, which does not allow for a true figure to be calculated. Data includes devolved overpayments from Scotland.
Financial Years | Volume of Overpayments |
2018/19 | 25,761 |
2019/20 | 39,502 |
2020/21 | 19,742 |
2021/22 | 35,965 |
2022/23 | 26,739 |
Total | 186,268 |
Table 3
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 10 years.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Table 1 details the number of live Carer’s Allowance overpayments the department is seeking to recover, by the value brackets requested, as of 1st February 2023.
Overpayment Value | Volume of Overpayments |
£0.01 - £500 | 55,010 |
£500.01 - £1,000 | 50,753 |
£1,000.01 - £5,000 | 27,761 |
£5,000.01 - £20,000 | 11,773 |
Over £20,000 | 270 |
Total | 145,567 |
Table 1 - Note: Data is for England, Wales and Scotland only, and represents overpayments held with balances greater than £0.00.
Table 2 details the number of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance for the last available year (2022/23) where the reason for overpayment was recorded as earnings over the Carer’s Allowance limit. The actual amount of earnings received is not captured. The bandwidths used therefore relate to the amount overpaid.
Overpayment Value | Number of overpayments (2022/23) |
£0.01 - £500 | 7,121 |
£500.01 - £1,000 | 7,271 |
£1,000.01 - £5,000 | 11,476 |
£5,000.01 - £20,000 | 835 |
Over £20,000 | 36 |
Total | 26,739 |
Table 2 - Note: Data includes devolved overpayments from Scotland but excludes Northern Ireland.
Table 3 details the number of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance there have been in relation to the earnings conditions for the past 5 years.
Going further back, the data excludes overpayments fully repaid – details of which are archived after 14 months and fully deleted after 7 years, which does not allow for a true figure to be calculated. Data includes devolved overpayments from Scotland.
Financial Years | Volume of Overpayments |
2018/19 | 25,761 |
2019/20 | 39,502 |
2020/21 | 19,742 |
2021/22 | 35,965 |
2022/23 | 26,739 |
Total | 186,268 |
Table 3
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 1 February 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
Table 1 details the number of live Carer’s Allowance overpayments the department is seeking to recover, by the value brackets requested, as of 1st February 2023.
Overpayment Value | Volume of Overpayments |
£0.01 - £500 | 55,010 |
£500.01 - £1,000 | 50,753 |
£1,000.01 - £5,000 | 27,761 |
£5,000.01 - £20,000 | 11,773 |
Over £20,000 | 270 |
Total | 145,567 |
Table 1 - Note: Data is for England, Wales and Scotland only, and represents overpayments held with balances greater than £0.00.
Table 2 details the number of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance for the last available year (2022/23) where the reason for overpayment was recorded as earnings over the Carer’s Allowance limit. The actual amount of earnings received is not captured. The bandwidths used therefore relate to the amount overpaid.
Overpayment Value | Number of overpayments (2022/23) |
£0.01 - £500 | 7,121 |
£500.01 - £1,000 | 7,271 |
£1,000.01 - £5,000 | 11,476 |
£5,000.01 - £20,000 | 835 |
Over £20,000 | 36 |
Total | 26,739 |
Table 2 - Note: Data includes devolved overpayments from Scotland but excludes Northern Ireland.
Table 3 details the number of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance there have been in relation to the earnings conditions for the past 5 years.
Going further back, the data excludes overpayments fully repaid – details of which are archived after 14 months and fully deleted after 7 years, which does not allow for a true figure to be calculated. Data includes devolved overpayments from Scotland.
Financial Years | Volume of Overpayments |
2018/19 | 25,761 |
2019/20 | 39,502 |
2020/21 | 19,742 |
2021/22 | 35,965 |
2022/23 | 26,739 |
Total | 186,268 |
Table 3
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 take steps to provide an additional Cost of Living Payment to disabled people before April 2023.
Answered by Tom Pursglove - Minister of State (Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery)
The Government announced in the Autumn Statement that it will provide a further Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 in 2023/24 to people in receipt of certain disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment (PIP) or Disability Living Allowance (DLA). This is in addition to the £150 payment already paid during 2022.
The Disability Cost of Living Payment can be received in addition to the other Cost of Living Payments of up to £900 for households on means-tested benefits and £300 for pensioners.
Preliminary guidance on when these Cost of Living Payments will be made have been published on GOV.UK: Cost of Living Payment 2022 - 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, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill on asbestos-related legislation; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The regulatory framework for asbestos is provided by the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012. The Regulations cover all work with asbestos that could give rise to exposure and outline controls which must be in place to prevent exposure occurring.
With the introduction of the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) remains focused on ensuring that regulatory frameworks maintain the United Kingdom’s high standards of health and safety protection and continue to reduce burdens for business. HSE’s approach aligns closely with the Government’s pledge to do more for business to help promote growth by removing disproportionate burdens and simplifying the regulatory landscape. Our standards of health and safety protections are among the highest in the world. HSE will continue to review its retained EU Law to seek opportunities to reduce business burdens and promote growth without reducing health and safety standards.