Carer’s Allowance: overpayment deductions, levels of service and staffing
Published 20 June 2019
© Crown copyright 2019
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/carers-allowance-overpayment-deductions-levels-of-service-and-staffing/carers-allowance-overpayment-deductions-levels-of-service-and-staffing
Introduction
This Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publication provides ad hoc statistics relating to:
- debtors with prior Carer’s Allowance overpayments currently being recovered by DWP
- levels of service offered to people claiming Carer’s Allowance
- staffing levels in the Carer’s Allowance Unit
The data in this publication is for 21 May 2019.
Debtors with prior Carer’s Allowance overpayments currently being recovered by DWP
At 21 May 2019, our primary internal data match indicates that there are 52,500 debtors with prior Carer’s Allowance overpayments being recovered by DWP.
DWP’s primary method of recovery is by deduction from any ongoing benefit that might be in payment. There are limits on the amount that can be deducted from income related benefits and these are set out in legislation.
Where recovery from ongoing benefit entitlement is not possible, DWP will seek to agree a voluntary repayment plan with the debtor, taking into account their personal circumstances and the amount they can reasonably afford to repay each month.
Where a person fails to agree a voluntary repayment plan, we can apply a Direct Earnings Attachment (DEA) which allows deductions to be taken directly from a person’s earnings.
DWP may also refer a debt to a private sector debt collection agency. From March 2015, the contract for debt recovery of this type was awarded to Indesser.
Table 1 shows how many claimants were repaying Carer’s Allowance debts as of 21 May 2019 by:
- deductions from benefit
- voluntary repayment plan
- DEA
- private sector debt recovery
All the figures are rounded to the nearest 100.
Table 1: Recovery method and volume of claimants at 21 May 2019
| Recovery method | Volume of claimants |
|---|---|
| Deductions from benefit (on benefit) | 31,300 |
| Voluntary repayment plan (off benefit) | 15,000 |
| Direct Earnings Attachment (off benefit) | 5,700 |
| Private sector debt recovery | 500 |
Level of service offered to carers
Table 2 shows the average time taken to answer calls across Carer’s Allowance. Telephony performance has been broadly stable throughout the period October 2018 to March 2019. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 seconds.
Table 2: average speed of answer
| Date | Average speed of answer (minutes/seconds) |
|---|---|
| w/c 1 October 2018 | 5:40 |
| w/c 8 October 2018 | 4:40 |
| w/c 15 October 2018 | 4:50 |
| w/c 22 October 2018 | 8:40 |
| w/c 29 October 2018 | 7:50 |
| w/c 5 November 2018 | 8:40 |
| w/c 12 November 2018 | 9:10 |
| w/c 19 November 2018 | 8:40 |
| w/c 26 November 2018 | 8:40 |
| w/c 3 December 2018 | 9:00 |
| w/c 10 December 2018 | 9:40 |
| w/c 17 December 2018 | 8:00 |
| w/c 24 December 2018 | 5:00 |
| w/c 31 December 2018 | 9:00 |
| w/c 7 January 2019 | 7:30 |
| w/c 14 January 2019 | 5:20 |
| w/c 21 January 2019 | 6:40 |
| w/c 28 January 2019 | 6:30 |
| w/c 4 February 2019 | 8:00 |
| w/c 11 February 2019 | 7:00 |
| w/c 18 February 2019 | 9:10 |
| w/c 26 February 2019 | 8:40 |
| w/c 4 March 2019 | 9:00 |
| w/c 11 March 2019 | 8:50 |
| w/c 18 March 2019 | 8:00 |
| w/c 25 March 2019 | 8:40 |
| w/c 1 April 2019 | 9:30 |
| w/c 8 April 2019 | 9:30 |
| w/c 15 April 2019 | 9:20 |
| w/c 22 April 2019 | 9:40 |
| w/c 29 April 2019 | 9:50 |
Average processing times for new claims
Table 3 shows average processing times for new claims to Carer’s Allowance. The figures are rounded to the nearest whole day.
Table 3: processing times for new claims to Carer’s Allowance
| Date | Average processing time for new claims |
|---|---|
| October 2018 | 22 days |
| November 2018 | 24 days |
| December 2018 | 25 days |
| January 2019 | 26 days |
| February 2019 | 21 days |
| March 2019 | 20 days |
| April 2019 | 21 days |
Number of outstanding cases for Carer’s Allowance new claims
Table 4 shows the number of outstanding cases for Carer’s Allowance new claims. These are rounded to the nearest 100.
Table 4: outstanding cases for Carer’s Allowance new claims
| Month | Outstanding new claims |
|---|---|
| September 2017 | 52,400 |
| October 2017 | 50,200 |
| November 2017 | 46,100 |
| December 2017 | 38,800 |
| January 2018 | 32,900 |
| February 2018 | 26,200 |
| March 2018 | 27,900 |
| April 2018 | 23,600 |
| May 2018 | 23,000 |
| June 2018 | 23,100 |
| July 2018 | 21,400 |
| August 2018 | 22,800 |
| September 2018 | 25,100 |
| October 2018 | 23,800 |
| November 2018 | 28,700 |
| December 2018 | 27,300 |
| January 2019 | 27,000 |
| February 2019 | 22,200 |
| March 2019 | 22,000 |
| April 2019 | 22,500 |
Average processing times for changes to claims
Table 5 shows what the average processing times are for people making changes to their Carer’s Allowance claim. These figures are rounded to the nearest whole day.
Table 5: average processing times for people making changes to their claim
| Date | Average processing times for changes to a claim |
|---|---|
| October 2018 | 15 days |
| November 2018 | 18 days |
| December 2018 | 22 days |
| January 2019 | 49 days |
| February 2019 | 64 days |
| March 2019 | 89 days |
| April 2019 | 66 days |
Outstanding cases for changes in circumstances
Table 6 shows the number of outstanding cases for Carer’s Allowance changes in circumstances. These are rounded to the nearest 100.
Table 6: changes in circumstances
| Month | Outstanding changes in circumstances |
|---|---|
| September 2017 | 65,400 |
| October 2017 | 67, 700 |
| November 2017 | 71,100 |
| December 2017 | 72,700 |
| January 2018 | 76,100 |
| February 2018 | 78,700 |
| March 2018 | 80,300 |
| April 2018 | 84,500 |
| May 2018 | 87,700 |
| June 2018 | 90,100 |
| July 2018 | 92,000 |
| August 2018 | 94,000 |
| September 2018 | 97,100 |
| October 2018 | 101,300 |
| November 2018 | 103,800 |
| December 2018 | 102,600 |
| January 2019 | 95,300 |
| February 2019 | 85,200 |
| March 2019 | 67,300 |
| April 2019 | 60,200 |
Level of staffing in the Carer’s Allowance Unit
Table 7 shows staffing levels in the Carer’s Allowance Unit.
Table 7: staffing levels
| Date | Staffing levels in Carer’s Allowance Unit (FTE) | Of which are fixed term contracts (FTE) |
|---|---|---|
| October 2018 | 545 | 51 |
| November 2018 | 586 | 49 |
| December 2018 | 610 | 49 |
| January 2019 | 642 | 47 |
| February 2019 | 648 | 41 |
| March 2019 | 670 | 38 |
| April 2019 | 661 | 20 |
About these statistics
The figures presented in this release are from the DWP management information which has been collected for internal departmental use only and has not been quality assured to National Statistics or Official Statistics publication standards.
Statement of Compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics
The Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code) is built around 3 main concepts, or pillars:
- trustworthiness – is about having confidence in the people and organisations that publish statistics
- quality – is about using data and methods that produce statistics
- value – is about publishing statistics that support society’s needs
The following explains how we have applied the pillars of the Code in a proportionate way.
Trustworthiness
The figures were created following interest from DWP ministers and the Work and Pensions Select Committee. They are being published now in order to give equal access to all those with an interest in them.
DWP analysts work to a professional competency framework and Civil Service core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity, and impartiality. The analysis in this release has been scrutinised and received sign off by the expert lead analyst.
We protect the security of our data in order to maintain the privacy of the citizen, fulfil relevant legal obligations and uphold our obligation that no statistics will be produced that are likely to identify an individual, while at the same time taking account of our obligation to obtain maximum value from the data we hold for statistical purposes. All analysts are given security training and the majority of data accessed by analysts is obfuscated and access is business case controlled based to the minimum data required.
The analysis has been created following interest from DWP ministers and the Work and Pensions Select Committee. The information has been seen in advance of publication by ministers and officials and we are publishing to ensure equality of access.
Quality
The data which underpins this information is taken directly and solely from departmental systems, which are relied upon by DWP for the accurate recovery of benefit overpayments. Quality assurance has taken place in line with the standards usually applied to DWP ad hoc releases, with an internal check that the results shown are robust, and a true representation of recovery type for Carer’s Allowance overpayments.
Value
Releasing this information serves the increased public interest in the volume of individuals who have had prior benefit overpayments and are currently repaying these to DWP. The figures also help reduce the administrative burden of answering Parliamentary Questions, Freedom of Information requests and other forms of ad hoc enquiry.
Further information and feedback
Lead statisticians: bill.parnham@dwp.gov.uk and iain.wright@dwp.gov.uk
DWP Press Office: 0203 267 5129