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1702274

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Carer's Allowance: Overpayments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people received fines for overpayment of Carer's Allowance in (a) 2020, (b) 2021, (c) 2022, (d) 2023 and (e) as of 1 April 2024; and what was the total amount of these fines.
	tabling member constituency	Newport East
	tabling member printed	Jessica Morden
	uin	22534
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>Claimants have a responsibility to ensure they are entitled to benefits they claim and to inform the DWP of any changes in their circumstances that could impact their award.</p><p> </p><p>Overpayments occur when an individual receives a payment they are not entitled to. The fines imposed by DWP for overpayments vary depending on the circumstances of the overpayment.</p><p> </p><p>Administrative Penalties may be offered by the fraud investigator as an alternative to a prosecution in certain cases where there has been benefit fraud or attempted benefit fraud.</p><p> </p><p>The table below provides the volume and value of Administrative Penalties accepted due to an overpayment of Carer’s Allowance, by financial year.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Years</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Volume </strong><strong>of</strong> <strong>Administrative Penalties</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Value</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>64</p></td><td><p>£114.4k</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>43</p></td><td><p>£80.2k</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022/23</p></td><td><p>43</p></td><td><p>£81.3k</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023/24</p></td><td><p>75</p></td><td><p>£140.8k</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p>For cases of claimant error, a £50 Civil Penalty may be imposed by DWP where an individual incurs an overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information and have not taken reasonable steps to correct the error.</p><p> </p><p>The table below provides the volume and value of Civil Penalties given due to an overpayment of Carer’s Allowance, by financial year.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Financial Years</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Volume</strong><strong> of Civil Penalties</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Value</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2020/21</p></td><td><p>14.9k</p></td><td><p>£0.747m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2021/22</p></td><td><p>26.3k</p></td><td><p>£1.309m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2022/23</p></td><td><p>24.8k</p></td><td><p>£1.241m</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2023/24</p></td><td><p>30.1k</p></td><td><p>£1.506m</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Note that our latest figures show there are approximately 1.4 million people claiming Carer’s Allowance.</p><p> </p><p>The data provided for this response is for the volume of penalties, and it is important to note that individuals can receive more than one penalty.</p><p> </p><p>Data been sourced from internal DWP management information, which is intended only to help the Department to manage its business. It is not intended for publication and has not been subject to the same quality assurance checks applied to our published official statistics. Our analysis has not captured a small but unknown number of penalties that are logged as debts in their own right on the debt MI system. Our understanding is that this approach is rarely used for Carer’s Allowance.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>More information about DWP penalties policy can be found here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/penalties-for-social-security-fraud-and-error/penalties-policy-in-respect-of-social-security-fraud-and-error" target="_blank">Penalties policy: in respect of social security fraud and error - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/04/2024 16:57:25 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	1548 label Biography information for Jessica Morden

1701264

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Women
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of the report entitled Women’s State Pension age: our findings on injustice and associated issues published by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on 21 March 2024, HC 638.
	tabling member constituency	Strangford
	tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
	uin	21990
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>In laying the report before Parliament at the end of March, the Ombudsman has brought matters to the attention of this House, and a further update to the House will be provided once the report's findings have been fully considered.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/04/2024 15:00:35 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1702152

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Department for Work and Pensions: Fraud
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the costs of fraud in his Department in the last three financial years.
	tabling member constituency	Leicester South
	tabling member printed	Jonathan Ashworth
	uin	22575
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>We are committed to tackling fraud which is why in May 2022 the Department launched a robust plan to drive down fraud and error from the benefits system, alongside investment of £900 million that will deliver £2.4 billion of savings by the end of 2024/25. This plan includes proposed powers to require the transfer of data from third-parties, which has been introduced as part of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill (No.2). This legislation is forecast to save up to an additional £600m over the Treasury scorecard period. The Department has set out a target to deliver £1.3bn in savings from our dedicated counter-fraud and error resource in 2023/24 as set out in the department’s Annual Reports and Accounts.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/04/2024 14:58:48 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4244 label Biography information for Jonathan Ashworth

1702103

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Underpayments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people were underpaid the State Pension due to incorrectly updated National Insurance records in the 2022-23 financial year; and what the total amount is that these people are owed.
	tabling member constituency	Wallasey
	tabling member printed	Dame Angela Eagle
	uin	22508
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>This response covers both missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) and UC National Insurance issues.</p><p> </p><p>The exercise to correct National Insurance records for those individuals impacted by errors in their HRP record is underway. The HRP corrections exercise started with HMRC dispatching letters in late 2023. Cases subsequently notified from HMRC started being processed in DWP in early 2024.</p><p> </p><p>In the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-2023, the central estimate was around 187,000 cases who may have an underpayment of State Pension and for whom we expect to correct, with a total underpayment estimate of £1,043 million.</p><p> </p><p>We intend to publish an update on the exercise in this year’s Annual Report and Accounts.</p><p> </p><p>DWP has corrected the UC data issue for the cases impacted for the tax years up to and including the tax year 2022/2023. This data has been shared with HMRC. As HMRC updates NI records, these updates are sent to DWP. Any State Pension entitlement will be reassessed, and any underpayment addressed accordingly.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/04/2024 12:53:28 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	491 label Biography information for Dame Angela Eagle

1701553

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Workplace Pensions
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact for his Department's policies of defined benefit pensions.
	tabling member constituency	Belfast South
	tabling member printed	Claire Hanna
	uin	22181
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>The defined benefit pensions landscape remains central for the retirement plans of millions of current and future pensioners. There have been significant changes over recent years and the Government has been alive to the resulting risks and opportunities. The revised DB funding arrangements, which will be implemented in the Autumn, will help to keep members hard earned benefits safe and support the vision set out in our recent DB consultations to ensure that assets can work as hard as possible for the benefit of members, sponsoring employers, and the wider economy.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/04/2024 12:41:09 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4827 label Biography information for Claire Hanna

1701582

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Pension Protection Fund
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he plans to extend (a) member and (b) trade union representation to the Board of the Pension Protection Fund.
	tabling member constituency	Warrington North
	tabling member printed	Charlotte Nichols
	uin	22172
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>There is no legal requirement for the Board of the Pension Protection Fund to include member or trade union representation, and there are no plans to extend representation to these groups.</p><p> </p><p>The Pension Protection Fund does, however, have Member Panels – which Board members are invited to attend – to enable members to feed in views on the service offered and thoughts about changes that could be made in the future.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/04/2024 12:34:52 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4799 label Biography information for Charlotte Nichols

1701552

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Attendance Allowance
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing recipients of Attendance Allowance to report a change in circumstances digitally.
	tabling member constituency	Linlithgow and East Falkirk
	tabling member printed	Martyn Day
	uin	22085
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>The modernisation of Retirement Services, which includes Attendance Allowance, forms a key part of DWP’s Service Modernisation Programme. A key objective of the programme is to understand how existing services - such as Attendance Allowance - should operate in the future and understand how and whether services, including reporting change of circumstances, can be accessed by citizens more quickly and easily online.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/04/2024 12:31:21 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4488 label Biography information for Martyn Day

1702105

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Databases
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department are responsible for manually updating records relevant to eligibility for the State Pension.
	tabling member constituency	Wallasey
	tabling member printed	Dame Angela Eagle
	uin	22510
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>This information is only available at disproportionate cost to The Department for Work &amp; Pensions as the Department does not have a business requirement for this information to be retained.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/04/2024 12:25:55 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	491 label Biography information for Dame Angela Eagle

1702104

	registered interest
	date	18/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	State Retirement Pensions: Underpayments
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average value was of an underpayment of the State Pension due to incorrectly updated National Insurance records in the 2022-23 financial year.
	tabling member constituency	Wallasey
	tabling member printed	Dame Angela Eagle
	uin	22509
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>This response covers both missing Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) and UC National Insurance issues.</p><p> </p><p>The exercise to correct National Insurance records for those individuals impacted by errors in their HRP record is underway. The HRP corrections exercise started with HMRC dispatching letters in late 2023. Cases subsequently notified from HMRC started being processed in DWP in early 2024.</p><p> </p><p>In the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts 2022-2023, the central estimate value of an underpayment was £5,000 for alive cases above state pension age and £3,000 for deceased cases.</p><p> </p><p>We intend to publish an update on the exercise in this year’s Annual Report and Accounts.</p><p> </p><p>DWP has corrected the UC data issue for the cases impacted for the tax years up to and including the tax year 2022/2023. This data has been shared with HMRC. As HMRC updates NI records, these updates are sent to DWP. Any State Pension entitlement will be reassessed, and any underpayment addressed accordingly.</p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/04/2024 12:22:27 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	491 label Biography information for Dame Angela Eagle

1701457

	registered interest
	date	16/04/2024
	answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
	answering dept id	29
	answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
	answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
	hansard heading	Social Security Benefits: Chronic Illnesses
	house id	1
	legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
	question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill on the (a) physical and (b) mental wellbeing of people with (i) M.E. and (ii) other chronic diseases.
	tabling member constituency	Glasgow North West
	tabling member printed	Carol Monaghan
	uin	22044
	answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 23/04/2024 answer text <p>The department has assessed the impact of the third-party data measure in the regulatory impact assessment scrutinised and green-rated by the Regulatory Policy Committee. This was published on the 27th November 2023 as part of the supporting documentation for the Data Protection and Information Bill and is available here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/data-protection-and-digital-information-bill-impact-assessments" target="_blank">Data Protection and Digital Information Bill: supporting documents - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)</a>.</p><p> </p><p>The department has fulfilled all the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) as set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 and in line with our statutory duty keeps the impact of this measure on groups with protected characteristics under continuous review.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>In 22/23, DWP overpaid over £8bn due to fraud and error. This is unacceptable and we are taking robust steps to tackle this.</p><p> </p><p>The third party data legislation we are seeking is one such approach. The focus of this power will be about finding signals of potential benefit fraud and error.</p><p>The measure does not target a particular group of benefit claimant and we have tried and tested safeguarding procedures to protect vulnerable groups and will follow business as usual processes.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p> answering member constituency Blackpool North and Cleveleys answering member printed Paul Maynard question first answered 23/04/2024 11:07:35 answering member 3926 label Biography information for Paul Maynard
	tabling member	4443 label Biography information for Carol Monaghan