Campaigners have urged Andy Burnham to step in after it emerged just a handful of the tens of thousands of unpaid carers who unknowingly racked up huge debts when welfare officials unlawfully changed benefits guidance have been repaid.
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officials → urge → guidance
The first official update on the carers allowance reassessment exercise launched by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in April confirms that progress in cancelling wrongful overpayments has started slowly.
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progress → launch → overpayments
Only 2,400 cases (1.04%) of an estimated caseload of 230,900 had been reviewed in the first five months of the £75m three-year scheme, with just 100 carers receiving a total of £40,000.
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carers → review → 40,000
Campaigners said the slow progress was “deeply disappointing” and warned that at current rates it would take around 40 years for the exercise to be completed.
“After years of waiting for justice, only a small number of carers have had their cases reviewed five months into this exercise.
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cases → say → exercise
The vast majority still face a lengthy and uncertain wait for resolution, all whilst enduring the ongoing financial hardship caused by these delays,” said Helen Walker, chief executive of Carers UK.
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Walker → face → UK
She added: “There there must be a clear and realistic plan to accelerate progress.
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She → add → progress
With 230,900 identified cases still awaiting review, these figures raise serious questions about whether DWP is on track to deliver within the funding period.”
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DWP → identify → period
Sir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, who has long campaigned on unpaid carer injustices, said: “The carer’s allowance scandal didn’t start on his watch, but the failure to put things right is fast becoming a scandal of its own.
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failure → campaign → own
The prime minister needs to step in and speed things up now.”
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minister → need → things
The DWP is understood to have prioritised accuracy over speed in its approach and remains confident it will complete the reassessment exercise on schedule by March 2029.
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it → understand → March
It plans to double the number of staff on the project to 250 by next April.
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It → plan → April
The reassessment exercise followed an official review by the disability rights expert Liz Sayce published last year which concluded systemic DWP shortcomings had caused hundreds of thousands of carers to unwittingly to run up benefit debts as high as £20,000.
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thousands → follow → 20,000
The Sayce review was triggered by an award-winning Guardian investigation, which revealed how hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers were pushed into financial hardship and emotional despair as a result of years of official neglect and failure.
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thousands → trigger → neglect
Sayce told the Guardian: “Today’s statistics show that reassessments have started slowly and it’s vital that DWP shares both a robust plan for speeding them up, so people trust they will not have prolonged waits for justice.”
The figures show that DWP has made full repayments to 100 carers totalling £40,000, and reduced overpayment debt incurred by a further 100 carers by a total of £20,000.
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DWP → tell → 20,000
The amount returned to carers is 41% lower than initially estimated.
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amount → return → carers
The re-assessment exercise covers cases where the DWP breached the law by failing to allow carers with irregular wages from part-time work to average their incomes over a year, unfairly exposing them to being penalised for breaching earnings limits.
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carers → cover → limits
The Sayce review revealed that the “averaging earnings” problem arose in 2020 after DWP officials quietly changed existing guidance without advising carers or taking legal or policy advice.
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officials → reveal → advice
Many carers who believed they were allowed to average earnings over a one-year period were as a result issued with overpayment demands.
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they → believe → demands
Campaigners praised the government for taking action to put right carer’s allowance injustices.
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Campaigners → praise → injustices
But they are also frustrated at the lack of progress on other Sayce review recommendations, including overpayments caused by universal credit faults, and debts caused by officials failing to act on earnings information given by carers.
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officials → frustrate → carers
A DWP spokesperson said: “We are on track to complete the carer’s allowance reassessment exercise within the three years previously announced.
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We → say → years
“To support the exercise we have been recruiting and training new decision makers in a rolling programme, ensuring we take the time to assess cases with the accuracy that carers deserve.
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carers → support → that
We have plans in place to increase resource at a steady pace over the course of the exercise.”
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We → have → exercise
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