Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many carer’s allowance overpayments over (a) £5,000 and (b) £20,000 there were in (i) 2022-23 and (ii) 2023-24.

We recognise the significant contribution of carers to supporting those most in need, which is why we have increased Carer's Allowance by almost £1,500 since 2010.

As with all DWP benefits, claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to the benefit they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award. For Carer’s Allowance, eligibility is partly dependent upon claimants earning £151 or less a week after tax, National Insurance and allowable expenses. This is set out at: Carer's Allowance: Eligibility - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Where overpayments do occur due to not being entitled to the benefit, the Department has a duty to the taxpayer to protect public funds and to ask for money to be paid back. We remain committed to working with anyone who is struggling with their repayment terms and will always look to negotiate sustainable and affordable repayment plans.

Our most recent statistics show that Carer's Allowance overpayments relating to earnings/employment represents 2.1% of our £3.3bn Carer’s Allowance expenditure.

The information requested has been provided in the table below.

The data has been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics.

Note that the year relates to when the debt was raised on Debt Manager, and therefore not necessarily the period as to when Carer’s Allowance was overpaid. The overpayments may span periods of many years.