Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, by what data matching process the Government ensures that people in receipt of carers allowance do not exceed earning restrictions.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by informal carers who provide invaluable support for relatives, partners, friends and neighbours who may be ill, frail or disabled. DWP works to ensure claimants are aware of their responsibility to provide the correct information when making a benefit claim and to report any changes of circumstance which may affect their claim.
Real Time Earnings Bulk Data Matching was first introduced in 2014. This gives DWP the ability to retrospectively cross reference actual earnings and pensions information with benefit awards (including Carers Allowance) to identify potential discrepancies for further investigation.
In September 2018 DWP introduced the Verify Earnings and Pensions (VEP) system for use in Carers Allowance. The VEP service presents earnings and employment data to users, with an automated alerts service generating notifications of earnings or pensions related changes. This allows benefit awards to be updated far more quickly.
The table below details the total number of staff employed by DWP from 2014-2018 working within fraud and error across all benefits administered by DWP. Some data matches may identify fraud/error impacting more than one benefit on a claim.
Year | Total number of Investigators and Compliance Officers (FTE) |
2014 | 2402.2 |
2015 | 2557.7 |
2016 | 2443.8 |
2017 | 1886.4 |
2018 | 2041.7 |