The Department is making full use of automated notifications of earnings from HMRC to notify Carer’s Allowance recipients that they may be exceeding the weekly earnings limit. This should reduce both the number and size of overpayments linked to earnings, and was a measure welcomed by Liz Sayce in her independent review into such overpayments.

With respect to recovery of debt caused by overpayments, the Department remains committed to working with all customers to agree repayment terms, and strives to set affordable, sustainable repayment plans. Anyone who is unable to afford the proposed rate of repayment can contact DWP’s Debt Management at the earliest opportunity.

For a case to be considered for prosecution, there must have been a suspicion of fraud, a full criminal investigation, consideration of the public interest test and agreement from the Crown Prosecution Service to bring the case forward.

The Department is making full use of Verify Earnings and Pensions alerts from HMRC to notify Carer’s Allowance recipients that they may be exceeding the weekly earnings limit. This should reduce both the number and size of overpayments linked to earnings, and was a measure welcomed by Liz Sayce in her independent review into such overpayments. The Government has also launched a Call for Evidence as part of its longer-term work on modernisation of Carer’s Allowance. This includes seeking views on the way in which earnings interact with the benefit.

The Government is committed to improving and modernising how earnings are treated in Carer's Allowance. It has increased the weekly earnings limit to match 16 hours at the National Living Wage, improved guidance, and is exploring longer-term changes to the benefit, including automation of earnings and the possibility of an earnings taper. A Call for Evidence to support this work was launched on 7 July 2026 and is open until 18 August 2026: Carer's Allowance: call for evidence - GOV.UK.

Where Carer's Allowance recipients undertake paid work, there is flexibility for Decision Makers to average earnings where these fluctuate in a regular pattern, using a period that best reflects the individual's working pattern.

We have accepted or partially accepted 38 of the 40 recommendations in Liz Sayce’s independent review of Carer’s Allowance overpayments. We are working on plans to improve and modernise Carer’s Allowance (CA), making it easier for unpaid carers to combine their caring responsibilities with paid work where they can, and rewarding them more for doing so.

The department also provides support to unpaid carers through income-related benefits, which can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities. Universal Credit and Pension Credit pay an extra £2,500 a year to 1.1 million unpaid carers through the carer element and carer addition respectively.

We have also increased the weekly Carer's Allowance earnings limit to match 16 hours work at National Living Wage levels. This change from April 2025 resulted in the largest ever increase in the limit to £196 net earnings a week and the highest percentage increase since 2001. In April 2026 the earnings limit increased to £204 per week. This means more than 60,000 additional people will be able to receive Carer's Allowance between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as result. This change will mean that those working 16 hours and receiving the NLW will be sure that they can receive CA that week.

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 gave employees a right to time off to care for someone who is disabled or has a long-term health condition for the first time and the Plan to Make Work Pay review announced in November 2025  presents an opportunity to consider our approach to employment rights for unpaid carers, particularly leave entitlements, giving due consideration to balancing costs and benefits to both businesses and the exchequer.

As the hon. Member knows, we are working through the cases of those who were required to repay an overpayment over recent years. I am receiving an update every week on the number of cases that have been gone through and the number of people who have had an overpayment reduced or cancelled, and I would be happy to give the hon. Member further information about the progress of that work.

I welcome the Government’s acceptance of a finding from the Liz Sayce review of carer’s allowance overpayments in respect of the underuse of waivers, given that the households concerned are often the most vulnerable in society. Has a review of the use of waivers been undertaken, and what changes have been made for frontline staff?

Information on the treatment of earnings in Carer’s Allowance is available on GOV.UK and is also provided in the letter sent when entitlement is awarded, as well as in annual uprating letters. Where unpaid carers have further questions, they can contact the Carer’s Allowance Unit for advice and clarification. Where further information is required, DWP decision makers may contact the individual to establish what is reasonable in view of the carer’s employment.

The Department continues to consider how Carer’s Allowance rules could be modernised going forward and communications continue to be improved.

The Daily Living Component of Personal Independence Payment paid to the person being cared for is one of the “trigger” benefits for Carer’s Allowance. The Government has no plans to change this.

I am currently undertaking a Review of the Personal Independence Payment. The Review is being co-produced with disabled people, the organisations that represent them, carers, clinicians, experts, MPs and other stakeholders, so a wide range of views and voices are heard. This means the Government will share ownership and responsibility for how the Review runs and what it recommends.

We are committed to supporting disabled people in living independent and fulfilling lives, and this will mean spending public money as effectively as possible. As such, the Review will operate within the OBR’s projections for future PIP expenditure, ensuring sustainability while continuing to provide meaningful support.

Overpayments can arise for a number of reasons. With respect to those linked to the treatment of earnings in Carer’s Allowance, we inherited a system where some busy carers, already struggling under a huge weight of caring responsibilities, found themselves with unexpected debts. We commissioned an Independent Review, led by Liz Sayce OBE, to investigate why overpayments occurred, how people affected can be better supported, and what changes are needed to prevent similar issues in future. We have published the findings of the Review, acknowledged the shortcomings identified, and accepted in full or in part 38 of the Review’s 40 recommendations. As part of its response, the Government committed to reassessing Carer’s Allowance cases which may have been affected by faulty guidance on averaging of irregularly fluctuating earnings. This guidance was in place between April 2015 and September 2025 and did not accurately reflect the statutory position.

The reassessment exercise began on 13 April 2026. Funding of £75m has been provided for the exercise in the financial years 2026/27 to 2028/29. The department expects to review over 200,000 cases, potentially reducing, cancelling, or refunding debts for around 25,000 carers.

The number of people with Carer's Allowance overpayment debts as a result of breaching the earnings limit where the person has a postcode in (a) England, (b) Wales, and (c) Scotland is presented below (correct as at 22 April 2026). Social security is a transferred matter in Northern Ireland, which is therefore excluded from these figures.

Carer’s Allowance has been a devolved matter in Scotland since April 2018, therefore cases with a Scottish postcode are not included where the overpayment occurred after that date. However, at the request of the Scottish Government, where such cases may have been affected by the faulty guidance on averaging of earnings identified by the Review, they are included in the current exercise to reassess such cases.

A payment in kind is a payment made by something other than money, such as goods, vouchers or free accommodation.

An employer may also pay contributions to a private health scheme on behalf of its employees. For Carer’s Allowance purposes, such payments are treated as earnings where they arise as a result of the person’s gainful employment, in line with the relevant Social Security regulations and guidance. In calculating a person’s earnings, the value of these payments is taken into account alongside earnings from other sources.

Customers receiving Carer’s Allowance are responsible for reporting their earnings to the department, including any deductions from their gross earnings.

A payment in kind is a payment made by something other than money, such as goods, vouchers or free accommodation.

An employer may also pay contributions to a private health scheme on behalf of its employees. For Carer’s Allowance purposes, such payments are treated as earnings where they arise as a result of the person’s gainful employment, in line with the relevant Social Security regulations and guidance. In calculating a person’s earnings, the value of these payments is taken into account alongside earnings from other sources.

Customers receiving Carer’s Allowance are responsible for reporting their earnings to the department, including any deductions from their gross earnings.

Through our Jobcentres, DWP supports unpaid carers who wish to combine their caring responsibilities with paid work. Full time carers who receive Universal Credit can access voluntary employment support from a work coach, which includes identifying skills gaps and referral to skills training, careers advice, job search support and volunteering opportunities. Customers who receive Carer’s Allowance may be also eligible for the Flexible Support Fund, which helps to remove financial barriers to work.

In England and Wales, carers, whether they are in receipt of Carer’s Allowance or not, and former carers, are eligible for intensive, personalised support from our voluntary Supported Employment programme, Connect to Work, part of the Government’s Pathways to Work support offer. This programme provides up to 12 months holistic support for disabled people, individuals with health conditions and people with more complex barriers to work to help them move closer to, and into, sustained employment. It can also provide up to 4 months’ support to people who are in work but at risk of falling out of employment as a result of their condition or barrier.

In Northern Ireland, services are run by the Department for Communities.

This Government recognises and values the vital contribution made by unpaid carers every day in providing significant care and continuity of support to family and friends with disabilities.

Overpayments can arise for a number of reasons. With respect to those linked to the treatment of earnings in Carer’s Allowance, we inherited a system where some busy carers, already struggling under a huge weight of caring responsibilities, found themselves with unexpected debts. We commissioned an Independent Review, led by Liz Sayce OBE, to investigate why overpayments occurred, how people affected can be better supported, and what changes are needed to prevent similar issues in future. We have published the findings of the Review, acknowledged the shortcomings identified, apologised to those affected, and accepted in full or in part 38 of the Review’s 40 recommendations.

We do not record the reason for Carer’s Allowance overpayments where we do not seek to recover those overpayments and therefore the earnings-related overpayments referred to Debt Management are not available. Therefore the information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Carer’s Allowance is payable to those who meet the eligibility criteria. In these circumstances, the key elements would be that (i) the child being cared for qualifies for the middle or higher rate of the care component of Disability Living Allowance and (ii) they are receiving at least 35 hours a week unpaid care (short breaks in care may be allowed).

The department works very closely with the Department for Education and Department for Health and Social Care, and stakeholders such as Carers Trust and the Learning and Work Institute, to help ensure young carers get the help and support they need and deserve.

We continue to look at how we can best identify and support young carers to combine study with their caring responsibilities where they can, including taking account of changes in the education system

The information requested regarding entitlement is not collected and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.