Hugh Gaffney
Main Page: Hugh Gaffney (Labour - Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill)Department Debates - View all Hugh Gaffney's debates with the Department for Work and Pensions
(5 years, 9 months ago)
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Sarah Newton
Every person who deserves their payment will be treated fairly and equally—I absolutely assure the hon. Gentleman of that—but I will write to him with specific details about people in Northern Ireland.
Hugh Gaffney (Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill) (Lab)
The DWP—not the staff—is quick to point out and to recover overpayments, but it takes rather longer to correct underpayments. That has taken six years in this case, and underpayments are at the highest estimated level to date. What actions will the Government take to put that right and, more importantly, to make sure that it does not happen again?
Sarah Newton
I have repeatedly said that we are very sorry that this happened in the first place, and that we are doing everything possible to rectify the system—not just in this particular case, but to learn across all our benefits. Of course we take underpayments very seriously, and we have a well-resourced team that is taking up that issue.