30th Report - Overpayments of Carer's Allowance

Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.

The Government "notes" the Committee's recommendations and sets out a strategy centred on preventing overpayments, with some measures taken forward and several recommendations not adopted.

• On a taper, the Government has "already looked at closely" the issue, citing the risk of "more fraud and error, not less", and says it "would not want to replicate in CA the earnings taper already available in UC". It has "noted the Committee's continuing interest in a taper".
• On writing off overpayments, the Department "does not accept that CA is a particularly complex benefit", and says waivers are possible only in "very limited circumstances", so "bulk reviews are not possible". Individual claimants can apply for a waiver.
• The Department has "committed to reviewing key CA customer facing products in the next 12 months", working with Carers UK, and says it will publish new research with CA claimants, "expected to report in the summer of 2020".
• On fluctuating earnings, it is "already reviewing the treatment of fluctuating earnings and will report back to the Committee in due course". On linking the earnings limit to 16 hours at the National Living Wage, it would consider changes a priority "if they were deemed to be necessary and affordable".

Read the government's response ↗ Report an error