UK Inquiry Tracker

Overpayments of Carer's Allowance

Work and Pensions Committee Closed Inquiry

Opened: 21 Nov 2018 Closed: 5 Nov 2019 Parliament page

There are 6.5 million unpaid carers in the UK who make a hugely valuable contribution to society. Many carers will be entitled to Carer’s Allowance, but this Committee has previously reported on the “cliff edge” within this benefit; if someone earns just £1 over the earnings threshold, they lose 100% … Read more There are 6.5 million unpaid carers in the UK who make a hugely valuable contribution to society. Many carers will be entitled to Carer’s Allowance, but this Committee has previously reported on the “cliff edge” within this benefit; if someone earns just £1 over the earnings threshold, they lose 100% of their Carer’s Allowance. It has been reported that many carers are often not aware that a rise in their earnings has taken them over this threshold. This means that they could, inadvertently, continue to receive Carer’s Allowance when they are no longer eligible, resulting in an overpayment. The DWP estimates that it overpays £160 million in Carer’s Allowance on an annual basis and is now looking to recover that money. This means that many carers could have to repay up to thousands of pounds, or even face more serious action; it has been reported that 1,000 carers could face prosecution and up to 10,000 may face fines. The Committee is holding a one-off evidence session with Emily Holzhausen OBE, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at Carers, UK, to explore: why the levels of overpayments in Carer’s Allowance are so high how clear the rules around earnings for carers are the impact that repaying overpayments has on carers Commenting on the one-off investigative session, Committee Member Ruth George MP said: "Our health and social care systems would fall apart without the contribution of unpaid carers, who perform a selfless and invaluable role for at least 35 hours a week to qualify for the £64.80 carer’s allowance – that’s a maximum £1.85 an hour. When I worked with retail staff, we would often see someone get a small pay rise and inadvertently exceed the earnings threshold. It was bad enough when this was picked up at the end of the year and they had to find and pay back hundreds of pounds. When carers are only being informed of overpayments years later and potentially being taken to court for thousands of pounds, it is imperative for the Committee to look at the evidence and question whether Government is acting in the best interests not just of individuals, but of society and the wider economy." Earlier this year the Committee conducted an inquiry into the support available for people with caring responsibilities to help them get into and stay in work – you can find all the information about that here: Support for carers. Show less

1 Report

2 Oral sessions

16 Letters

2 Events

Activity timeline 22 events

5 Nov
2019

Report published

1st Special Report - Overpayments of Carer’s Allowance: Government Response to the Committee’s Thirtieth Report of Session 2017–19

5 Nov
2019

Correspondence

Letter from the Chair to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the Government response to the Overpayments of Carer's Allowance …

5 Nov
2019

Correspondence

Letter from Chair to Peter Schofield CB, Permanent Secretary, DWP, re follow-up of 15 May evidence session - dated 3 June 2019

5 Nov
2019

Correspondence

Letter from Chair to SoS for WP Re Governmnent response to the Committees Thirtieth Report of Session 2017 19 dated 30 October 2019

1 Nov
2019

Correspondence

Letter from Sir Amyas Morse, National Audit Office, to Chair, regarding overpayments of carer's allowance - dated 13 December 2018

1 Nov
2019

Correspondence

Letter from Peter Schofield CB to Chair, regarding overpayments of carer's allowance - dated 5 December 2018

2 Aug
2019

Report published

30th Report - Overpayments of Carer's Allowance

2 Aug
2019

Correspondence

Letter from the Permanent Secretary to the Chair on Carer's Allowance, 28 June 2019

15 May
2019

Oral evidence

Oral evidence session

15 May
2019

Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster

Committee event

14 May
2019

Correspondence

Letter from Sarah Newton MP to Chair, regarding customer communications, self-employed earnings and fluctuating earnings - dated 12 March 2…

14 May
2019

Correspondence

Letter from Sarah Newton MP to Chair, regarding Carer's Allowance - dated 28 January 2019

Oral evidence sessions 2 sessions

15 May 2019

View on parliament.uk

28 Nov 2018

View on parliament.uk

Reports 1 report · click to expand

Title	HC No.	Published	Items	Response
30th Report - Overpayments of Carer's Allowance	HC 1772	2 Aug 2019	0	Responded

Correspondence 16 letters

5 Nov 2019 To committee Letter from the Chair to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the Government response to the Overpayments of Carer's Allowance report, 30 October 2019

Parliament page

5 Nov 2019 To committee Letter from Chair to Peter Schofield CB, Permanent Secretary, DWP, re follow-up of 15 May evidence session - dated 3 June 2019

Parliament page

5 Nov 2019 To committee Letter from Chair to SoS for WP Re Governmnent response to the Committees Thirtieth Report of Session 2017 19 dated 30 October 2019

Parliament page

1 Nov 2019 To committee Letter from Sir Amyas Morse, National Audit Office, to Chair, regarding overpayments of carer's allowance - dated 13 December 2018

Parliament page

1 Nov 2019 To committee Letter from Peter Schofield CB to Chair, regarding overpayments of carer's allowance - dated 5 December 2018

Parliament page

2 Aug 2019 To committee Letter from the Permanent Secretary to the Chair on Carer's Allowance, 28 June 2019

Parliament page

14 May 2019 To committee Letter from Sarah Newton MP to Chair, regarding customer communications, self-employed earnings and fluctuating earnings - dated 12 March 2019

Parliament page

14 May 2019 To committee Letter from Sarah Newton MP to Chair, regarding Carer's Allowance - dated 28 January 2019

Parliament page

14 May 2019 To committee Letter from Chair to Sarah Newton MP, regarding Carer's Allowance - dated 19 February 2019

Parliament page

30 Nov 2018 To committee Letter from Sarah Newton MP to Frank Field MP regarding Overpaid Carer's Allowance - 28.11.2018

Parliament page

30 Nov 2018 To committee Letter from Frank Field MP to Sarah Newton MP regarding employment support for carers - 28.11.2018

Parliament page

30 Nov 2018 To committee Letter from Frank Field MP to Sarah Newton MP regarding Overpaid Carer's Allowance - 30.11.2018

Parliament page

27 Nov 2018 Chair to NAO regarding Carer’s Allowance: Overpayments – 27.11.2018

Parliament page

27 Nov 2018 Permanent Secretary to Frank Field regarding Overpayment of Carer's allowance - 26.11.2018

Parliament page

27 Nov 2018 Chair Frank Field to Peter Schofield, DWP permanent secretary regarding Carer's allowance: overpayment- 27.11.2018

Parliament page

23 Nov 2018 Frank Field MP to the Permanent Secretary - Overpaid Carer's Allowance - 22.11.18

Parliament page