Sir Ed Davey calls Carer's Allowance overpayments a 'scandal of huge proportions'
"I hope Labour ministers get a grip of this": Sir Ed Davey speaks to ITV News about the carer's allowance "scandal".
The Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has welcomed a review into what he has called "a scandal of huge proportions" where thousands of unpaid carers are being asked to pay back large sums of money to the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP).
Charities have warned of the toll the Carer's Allowance overpayments has had on "vulnerable people", that has caused carers to rack up debt, sometimes as high as £20,000, after unwittingly falling foul of benefit rules.
Many were threatened with criminal prosecution over breaches of earning limits, with some only going over the working hours by a few minutes. It's thought 134,500 people are impacted, with about £251m in overpayments being claimed by the DWP.
It comes as Liz Kendall, the secretary of state for work and pensions, launched an independent review of overpayments to assess how they were accrued.
Sir Ed Davey, who is a carer himself, told ITV News: "I'm delighted that the new government has set up a review after our campaigns, by care organizations, campaigns by people in the media.
"We just now to make need to make sure that review doesn't kick the can down the road and really sorts out this problem."
ITV News Meridian spoke to carers in the South affected by overpayments.
When asked whether a blanket policy is the right way forward and if all debts should be cancelled, the Lib Dem leader said if "really egregious examples of fraud" have taken place, they should be "punished."
He has called for the debts of people "who are being chased and persecuted, frankly, by the DWP" to be written off.
Sir Ed said "I challenged the Conservatives in the Commons...on a motion to draw to attention to this problem, and they clearly, failed to do a proper job when they were in government.
"It's a scandal of huge proportions, we're looking at tens of thousands of people being pursued by the Department for Work and Pensions, for the incompetence of the Department of Work and Pensions. That's just wrong.
"And I really hope Labour ministers get a grip of this. Given the Conservatives failed for the whole of the last Parliament."
A recent study of 12,500 unpaid carers by Carers UK called 'State of Caring Survey 2024' found...
61% of unpaid carers are worried about living costs and managing in the future
Over a third (35%) don’t feel confident they will be able to manage financially over the next 12 month
A quarter of carers (27%) are struggling to make ends meet and 28% of carers are cutting back on essentials like food and heating
In a Debate in parliament last week, when challenged by Sir Ed on their time in power for handling carer's allowance, Mel Stride MP defended the Conservatives handling of the matter.
"When we were in government, we brought forward a number of measures to make sure we supported those carers. The level of carer's allowance itself has increased by £1500 from 2010.
"There's an element of trust in how that benefit works...therefore there is an earnings limit."
"One's income has to be adjusted in order to decide if you are below that limit" pointing to pension reductions as a way of the challenges surrounding why the DWP may take time to figure out if a person is above a limit.
In a statement, the Work & Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, said:
"I have been a lifelong champion of family carers and know many have been pushed to breaking point looking after the people they love.
"This [the scandal] is not okay. We’re determined to learn lessons and put this right. It’s brilliant that Liz Sayce has agreed to lead this with all the experience she brings."
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