Oral Answers to Questions

Anna Dixon Excerpts

Monday 7th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby) (Lab)]

15. What steps she is taking to tackle carer’s allowance overpayments.

[Anna Dixon (Shipley) (Lab)]

16. What steps she is taking to tackle carer’s allowance overpayments.

[The Minister for Social Security and Disability (Sir Stephen Timms)]

The work of unpaid carers is vital and often heroic, and we are determined to give them the support that they need. We are currently looking at options for tackling the problem of overpayments, including the possible introduction of a text message alert service.

[Sir Stephen Timms]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I agree that we need to support carers properly. We want to get to the bottom of what has gone wrong with these overpayments and why so many people have been caught out. We have been piloting the introduction of a text message service, as I have mentioned, which has involved texting 3,500 claimants to alert them when His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs informs the DWP that they have breached the current earnings limit. We are currently looking at the results, and if they are positive, that will be the first step towards addressing the overpayments problem. We will need to do more, but it will be a good first step.

[Anna Dixon]

There are nearly 1,200 recipients of carer’s allowance in Shipley. The current earnings limit leaves people vulnerable to accidentally accruing overpayments if they become ineligible for the allowance, and it also acts as a disincentive, deterring people from working as much as they would like to. Will the Government consider raising the earnings limit?

[Sir Stephen Timms]

My hon. Friend has written to me about this matter, and I welcome her commitment to making progress. In an excellent piece of work, the former Work and Pensions Committee made a number of recommendations on the earnings rules, and once the new Committee is in place, we shall respond to the former Committee’s proposals.