Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the value was of special payments that were made after being proactively considered by his Department for decisions relating to the award of a (a) personal independence payment, (b) employment and support allowance work capability assessment and (c) Universal Credit work capability assessment in the latest 12 month period for which data is available.

The department aims to provide a good level of service to our customers, which includes robust decision making. Whilst we strive to provide the best possible service to our customers, we don’t always get it right and, when this happens, the Special Payments scheme is there to acknowledge any impacts caused as a result of DWP maladministration. If a benefit decision is over-turned, it does not mean that the original decision was caused by maladministration.

In 2021-22, we authorised 9,585 ex-gratia payments (against our customer base of 22 million) totalling £1.20 million for maladministration. We do not hold a breakdown by benefit type for special payments issued.

The department publishes special payment data annually in their DWP Annual Report and Accounts on GOV.UK. See page 86 of the following link: DWP annual report and accounts 2021 to 2022 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Special Payment data for 2022/23 will be available later in the year.

The DWP’s Policy and Guiding Principles guide: ‘Financial Redress for Maladministration’ explains each category of special payment (para 5 to 5.14). The guide can be found on: Compensation for poor service: staff guide - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).