"An independent review into the overpayments scandal published in November found that longstanding and unacceptable systemic DWP leadership failures, poor benefit design and unlawful internal staff guidance were at the root of the problems. As well as inadvertently running up debts of thousands of pounds, carers who received overpayments often felt so desperate they contemplated suicide, the review found. It described the system as like being at the whim of a faceless machine."
"The DWP's longstanding failures to tackle the problems, despite a series of internal warnings and reports, were revealed in an award-winning Guardian investigation that let to ministers ordering the review by the disability expert Liz Sayce. The chair of the work and pensions committee, Labour's Debbie Abrahams, asked Schofield on Wednesday: Given what the report had said, that this was a massive failure of culture, let alone competence within the department, how on earth do you explain that? That behaviour is absolutely unacceptable, surely."
MPs criticised senior welfare officials after hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers were unfairly landed with large debts from carer's allowance overpayments. An independent review found longstanding and unacceptable systemic DWP leadership failures, poor benefit design and unlawful internal staff guidance at the root of the problems. Affected carers often inadvertently ran up debts of thousands of pounds and some felt so desperate they contemplated suicide. The DWP failed to address warnings and reports, prompting an award-winning investigation and a review by disability expert Liz Sayce. Sir Peter Schofield apologised, pledged to put things right, and faced questioning over an internal blog that blamed carers.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]