Carer’s Allowance: Overpayments Review

Baroness Pitkeathley Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Pitkeathley]

To ask His Majesty’s Government when they plan to publish the final report of the Independent Review into Carer’s Allowance overpayments.

[The Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Sherlock) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government would like to thank Liz Sayce for the work and insights that went into the independent review of earnings-related overpayments of carer’s allowance. We are carefully considering the findings of the review and will publish the report and our response by the end of this year. We have already taken steps to improve carer’s allowance, including implementing the highest-ever increase to the earnings limit.

[Baroness Pitkeathley (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that response. I trust that I can feel hopeful about it and that, when the government response comes, it will be both positive and compassionate. I hope she will agree that the most important thing we have to avoid in future is prosecution of carers and the great distress caused to them by inadvertently going over the earnings limit when claiming carer’s allowance. The Government have pledged to increase the earnings limit and to keep it pegged to the national living wage. Can my noble friend confirm that this will happen from next year?

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful for my noble friend’s patience; I am afraid that I must ask her to be patient for just a little longer. On the important question of earnings-related overpayments, we are very conscious that some carers found this extremely difficult—hence the need for the report. As I said, we have committed to keeping the weekly carer’s allowance earnings limit pegged to 16 hours of work a week at the national living wage level. That meant that, last April, there was a record jump in the earnings limit from £151 a week to £196 a week. We will announce the new earnings limit from next April in the next few weeks. I hope the House appreciates how difficult this has been but also that we are determined to get to the bottom of it. Carer’s allowance is an unusual benefit: if you earn £1 below the threshold, you get the lot; if you earn £1 over it, you get nothing. It has taken quite some work, but we hope the report will be out very soon.