Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of taking steps to prevent the accumulation of debt among carers due to (a) delayed investigation and (b) non-investigation of overpayment alerts.

The DWP is progressing an enhanced notification strategy for Carers’ Allowance, to help claimants understand when they may have received an earnings-related overpayment, and to meet their obligation to inform the Department of changes in their income and other relevant circumstances. This will be designed to help prevent Carer’s Allowance claimants accumulating debt.

As part of that, DWP is considering the most effective and efficient way of contacting customers when alerted to a potential change in the customer’s income, building on existing communications. This could include targeted text messaging, email, phone calls or letters.