Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the findings of the Independent Review of Carer’s Allowance Overpayments published in November 2025, what assessment he has made of the proportionality and fairness of enforcement actions in cases where (a) inadvertent breaches of the earnings limit averaged only marginal amounts and (b) the total overpayment was substantially lower than the subsequent debt and penalty issued.

The Government inherited a system where some busy carers, already struggling under a huge weight of caring responsibilities, found themselves with unexpected debts due to overpayments of CA. The Independent Review, undertaken by Liz Sayce, showed that some mistakes were made, and we are determined to put them right. We welcomed the report and accepted or partially accepted 38 of the 40 recommendations. The Department will now continue putting things right by reassessing cases affected because guidance on averaging irregularly fluctuating earnings between 2015 and 2025 did not accurately reflect the statutory position. We will set out more details on the reassessment exercise in the next few weeks.