Official Statistics

Carer’s Allowance: overpayment deductions, levels of service and staffing

Published 20 June 2019

Introduction

This Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publication provides ad hoc statistics relating to:

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