Independent review
Completed
Sayce Carer's Allowance Review
Independent review examining the causes of Carer's Allowance overpayments and how the DWP can better support unpaid carers, making recommendations on debt management, communications and system reform.
Government Response
The Department for Work and Pensions published its response to Liz Sayce OBE's Independent Review of Carer's Allowance Overpayments alongside the review on 25 November 2025. The Government accepted or partially accepted 38 of the 40 recommendations (24 accepted, 14 partially accepted, 2 not accepted). Measures include reassessing Carer's Allowance overpayments arising between 10 April 2015 and 2 September 2025, and amending internal guidance on earnings averaging, with longer-term consideration of an earnings taper.
Recommendations
Recommendation 1
Recommendation 1: Change the basis of averaging earnings to match the realities of the modern labour market and carers' lives, making it simpler, more predictable and easier to automate, through immediate changes to operational guidance and communication and longer-term changes to regulations and technology.
Recommendation 2
Recommendation 2: Simplify allowable expenses to create clarity for carers and ease of automation through changes to operational guidance and communication.
Recommendation 3
Recommendation 3: Whilst DWP advances its overall long-term plans to address the cliff edge (outside this review's terms of reference), ensure shorter term imaginative solutions are pursued to reduce its impact.
Recommendation 4
Recommendation 4: Ensure interactions between CA, UC and other benefits work more seamlessly for carers, including immediately creating an effective workaround to ensure any arrears are routinely identified and offset against overpayments.
Recommendation 5
Recommendation 5: Use data better to improve service to carers, by processing all alerts generated by HMRC promptly and recording accessibility requirements, and to inform policy makers and the public, through improving data and analysis on CA.
Recommendation 6
Recommendation 6: Improve DWP processes and communications, so carers understand the requirements and their financial position, can upload and report information more easily and obtain decisions promptly that enable them to manage their work and caring lives.
Recommendation 7
Recommendation 7: Reform enforcement action related to CA to ensure penalties are applied fairly and consistently with appropriate controls and inspection.
Recommendation 8
Recommendation 8: Improve the management of debt for CA overpayments related to earnings, taking account of hardship and vulnerability.
Recommendation 9
Recommendation 9: Rebuild DWP's trustworthiness to carers by providing focused leadership to deliver the report's recommendations. Ensure holistic consideration of the core purposes of CA (income replacement, recognition and supporting carers where they wish to combine caring with paid work) in decision-making, underpinned by a commitment to empathy.
Recommendation 10
Recommendation 10: Reclassify CA overpayments caused by the systemic issues set out in this report as not recoverable, and ensure, for cases where carers claim UC and CA, all UC arrears are identified and paid.
No recommendations with this response.