WIREDGOV

• Former Disability Rights UK Chief Executive Liz Sayce OBE confirmed to lead review. 
• Work and Pensions Secretary recognises the concerns of carers, some of whom only breached earnings limit by a “small amount”.

Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall MP announced yesterday (16 October) that the Government will launch an independent review into Carer’s Allowance overpayments.  

Led by Liz Sayce OBE, the former Disability Rights UK Chief Executive, now visiting professor in practice at LSE, the review will investigate the reasons why overpayments have occurred for some carers.

The review will focus on how and why overpayments were accrued, operational changes to minimise future overpayment risk and how the DWPcan best support those with overpayments. A full term of reference will be published in due course.

It follows concerns over increasing reports of carers unknowingly accruing large amounts of overpayments of Carer’s Allowance, signalling the Government’s commitment to learn lessons and get to grips with the issues.

This review has been commissioned by the Secretary of State to get an independent view of the situation and its causes, and to recommend potential solutions for ministers to consider.

Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall MP, said:

I have been a lifelong champion of family carers and know many have been pushed to breaking point looking after the people they love.

This is not okay. We’re determined to learn lessons and put this right.

It’s brilliant that Liz Sayce has agreed to lead this with all the experience she brings.

Former Chief Executive of Disability Rights UK, Liz Sayce, said:

I’m delighted to be leading this important review which will make a difference to carers who offer such tremendous support to their loved ones every day.

My work aims to get to the bottom of how overpayments have occurred and how to prevent people who devote such time and care to others facing these difficulties in future.

Minister for Social Security and Disability, Sir Stephen Timms MP, said:  

Carers, whom we owe so much for the hard work they do, deserve to be supported, not punished.  

In the last Parliament, the Work and Pensions Select Committee found that people in receipt of Carer’s Allowance were accruing large overpayments – often inadvertently.

We need to get to the bottom of what has been going wrong, and to put it right. This review will shed some light on why overpayments have occurred and is evidence of this government’s commitment to make positive change and support all those who care.

The government is also working on long-term reform of the social care system to improve support for both carers and those being cared for.  

This includes the longer-term goal of creating a sustainable National Care Service and working collaboratively with unpaid carers themselves, sector partners, and carer organisations as part of that process.  

Further Information

• Further details, including the timeline, of the review will be announced in due course.  

• More information on Carer’s Allowance including full eligibility criteria can be found here: Carer’s Allowance: How it works - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
• To be eligible for Carer’s Allowance, a carer must earn £151 a week or less after allowable deductions. If they exceed this earnings limit, they have a duty to inform DWP so that their entitlement can be reviewed.