Employment and Support Allowance

Monday 12th July 2021 Written Statements

[The Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work (Justin Tomlinson)]

I am pleased to confirm that the exercise to correct past Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) underpayments and pay arrears, following conversion from previous incapacity benefits is now complete. All cases have been considered, reviews completed where the information has been provided, and arrears paid where due¹.

As set out in the final statistical publication published on www.gov.uk, as of 1 June 2021:

600,000 cases have completed the review process; and

118,000 arrears payments totalling £613 million have been made.

¹ Completion rate is 100%, rounded to the nearest 1%. Fewer than 100 cases were outstanding as at 1 June 2021.