The National Audit Office has revealed in a report this week that staff at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have made errors resulting in around 70,000 disability benefits claimants not receiving their full entitlement, costing the government an estimated £340m.
Patrick Butler, Social Policy editor at The Guardian writes that the errors occurred between 2011 and 2014 during a government overhaul of incapacity benefits when claimants were transferred from older benefits on to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA).
“The error occurred when officials at the Department for Work and Pensions failed to follow their own legal guidelines governing the transfer process, meaning that in many cases they failed to properly check claimants’ full entitlements.”
Meg Hillier, the chair of the Commons public accounts committee, said: “The government’s shoddy administration of ESA has resulted in vulnerable people being deprived of thousands of pounds they were legally entitled to. The NAO’s report shows the DWP was unacceptably slow to act on early signs something was wrong.”
The administrative cost of correcting the latest error is estimated at £14m. The DWP plans to hire 250 more staff as it sifts through an estimated 300,000 ESA assessments to identify affected claimants. Fixing the problem will add about £700m to the ESA bill by April 2023 as ongoing claims are uprated.
Frank Field, chair of the work and pensions committee, said: “This is a damning report. The department is quick to act in cases of overpayment, quick to sanction claimants for any breach of its rules – but when the shoe is on the other foot, has shown it will take years to recognise and get to grips with its own mistakes.”
Genevieve Edwards, the director of external affairs at the Multiple Sclerosis Society said the failure was inexcusable. “Around a quarter of all people with MS access ESA as they can no longer work due to ill health. Many have told us the support they receive isn’t enough to pay for the basics and so any underpayment would obviously have a huge impact on their lives.”
