DWP needs overhaul to restore trust after carer’s allowance scandal, adviser says | Carers

The Department for Work and Pensions needs a management and cultural overhaul to rebuild public confidence, a key government adviser has warned, following the benefits scandal that has left hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers in debt.

Professor Liz Sayce led a scathing review of the carer’s allowance scandal; This review found that the DWP system and leadership failures were responsible for carers unwittingly burdening themselves with huge debts, some of which resulted in criminal convictions for serious mental illness and possibly fraud.

Sayce told the Guardian she was surprised by the DWP’s “lack of organizational curiosity” about the impact of issues with carer’s allowance, as well as its reluctance to address the issue strategically, despite having been aware of the issues for years.

His comments come just days after the Guardian revealed that the DWP’s senior civil servant, Neil Couling, had insisted carers were to blame for the department’s failings in an internal message to staff, published just days after Sayce’s report was published.

Sayce said it was “sad” to read Couling’s comments, which he said were “clearly untrue.” His opinion, published on an internal DWP blog, contradicted the key finding in the seven-month review agreed by ministers that a confusing and complex system rather than individual carer error was to blame for the scandal.

“I was really sad that the message went out to all the people who work in the DWP because, as I said before, a lot of people who work in the DWP want to do the right thing and that was probably not the message they got from the review and from what ministers said. So I found that upsetting.”

Sayce said his review had revealed a “mixed culture” at the DWP, with staff wanting to “learn and develop” and other staff taking a more institutionally defensive approach. He added: “It’s very interesting how organizations behave when they feel threatened.”

He said it would be interesting to see “which strands of this culture prevail” as the DWP prepares to launch a three-year, £75 million plan in the new year to review past cases of overpayment and improve systems to prevent carer’s allowance injustices in the future.

Last week welfare minister Pat McFadden rejected Couling’s comment that carers’ individual failings were “at the heart” of the issue, effectively confirming her comments were “not the position” of the department.

McFadden said: “This was a long-standing issue that was ignored by the previous government. We have produced a report and supported it. We will tackle the problems with carers’ pay.”

Sayce also paid tribute to a DWP whistleblower for her determination to ensure flaws in carer’s pay were brought to light. He said the whistleblower’s evidence was important for his review. “It is not easy to raise problems in a large system [like DWP] and he deserves thanks for continuing to raise these issues over time,” he said.

The government-commissioned Sayce review was ordered after a Guardian investigation revealed how unpaid carers were unfairly hit with hefty fines of up to £20,000 after unknowingly overpaying their carer’s allowance allowance.

Sayce said he was pleased the DWP had accepted most of the 40 recommendations in its review, but said the government’s refusal to follow advice to change the way carer’s allowance overpayments are recorded was a “missed opportunity”.

He said it was “regrettable” that the government had rejected his recommendation to change official guidance, which he described as confusing, on the types of allowable expenses carers are allowed to set based on weekly earnings limits. He said the lack of clear guidance meant some carers were unknowingly overpaying.

Asked if unpaid carers were getting criminal records as a result of faults in the DWP system, he said: “It is possible… [that where a] When the case goes to the CPS, people may have pleaded guilty to avoid a worse sentence, even if they did not think they had done anything wrong. I don’t know. But these are worrying possibilities.”

Sayce praised ministers for resolving the carer’s allowance issues: “This is a real step forward. Ministers have a real commitment to deliver this. So while there’s still a long way to go, it’s very important that that commitment is welcomed… I think it will create some significant changes for the better.”

Ministers ordered a reassessment of nearly 200,000 historic cases and said the debts of around 26,000 carers were likely to be canceled or reduced. “Transparency is the key to building trust” [with carers]. So if people think [these figures] may be on the low side, then they [the DWP] It is necessary to explain the criteria.”

Although Sayce did not name the whistleblower, it appears to be Enrico La Rocca, a junior official in the maintenance allowance department whose internal warnings were repeatedly ignored by senior managers or silenced for years. Her evidence led to MPs investigating carer’s pay in 2019.

DWP permanent secretary Sir Peter Schofield was sacked in 2020 despite reassuring MPs at the time that La Rocca would be protected. He was reinstated in 2021 following the intervention of MPs. Ministers intervened again this year after La Rocca’s bosses tried to prevent him from giving evidence to the Sayce review.

Schofield’s responsibility in the DWP’s carer’s allowance scandal has come under scrutiny. He failed to apologize to carers in 2019 but promised to address the overpayment problem. He told the public accounts committee last week: “I’m sorry for everyone affected by this but I will sort this out.”

A DWP spokesman said: “We have inherited a system that has failed carers, but we are taking decisive action to put things right and rebuild trust, and we are grateful to Liz for her work to highlight these issues.

“We have accepted the vast majority of the recommendations in the Sayce review and are already making changes. We have hired extra staff to prevent carers racking up huge debts, updated internal guidance and ensured letters clearly explain what changes carers need to report.

“And we will continue to make things right by reassessing affected cases and potentially reducing, canceling or repaying debts for tens of thousands of carers, while also working to modernize benefits so this doesn’t happen again.”