Ignored for six years... Benefit blunder that’s cost disabled £20,000
THOUSANDS of disabled people were underpaid by up to £20,000 in a benefits blunder which laid bare “weaknesses at the highest levels of management”, a damning report said last night.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has been attacked in a scathing Commons report over its handling of the employment and support allowance (ESA), introduced in 2008 under Gordon Brown’s Labour government.
It has questioned why it took six years for the DWP to acknowledge its error in 2014 and there are fears that victims of the mistake will not be fully reimbursed.
Current Work and Pensions Secretary Esther McVey’s department expects to pay out £340million in arrears by next April.
But claimants could still be as much as £150million short because the department does not plan to make up for underpayments dating from before October 2014, the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee found.
Those affected will also not be reimbursed for benefits such as NHS prescriptions, dental treatment and free school meals, on which they missed out because of the DWP’s mistake.
The committee gave the department until October to report back on action it is taking to ensure mistakes are not repeated. And it said the DWP should provide a figure for the total amount claimants have missed out on, along with an explanation of how it will provide “appropriate remedies”.
The committee said: “There is clearly much more to be done to right this wrong.
“We encourage the department to act swiftly, decisively and comprehensively to address the harm caused by this mistake and, more broadly, to give much greater priority to correcting benefit underpayments to vulnerable people.”
Those affected by the blunder were people whose ability to work is affected by disability or illness, who were transferred to ESA from 2011 onwards.
Some 70,000 ended up being underpaid for years, losing an average of £5,000, the report said.
Of these, more than 20,000 most in need are each owed around £11,500 and some as much as £20,000.
The report found that the “unacceptable and entirely avoidable” situation came about because of “multiple failures” by the DWP.
It was found that the department failed to listen to staff, claimants or experts when they warned that things were going wrong and did not scrutinise its own processes properly or ensure they reflected the legislation, the committee said.
A “culture of indifference” at the department meant it took more than six years to take action, even though it was “painfully obvious” a significant number of claimants were being underpaid.
Committee chairwoman Meg Hillier said: “Thousands of people have not received money essential for living costs because of Government’s blinkered and wholly inept handling of ESA.
“The department simply didn’t listen to what claimants, experts, support organisations and its own staff were saying.
“Its sluggishness in correcting underpayments, years after it accepted responsibility for the error, points to weaknesses at the highest levels of management.”
A DWP spokesman said: “We take the issue of underpayments very seriously and have actively taken steps to put this right as quickly as possible to ensure people get the support they are entitled to. We have recruited 400 extra staff and have started making payments – over £40million so far.”
Have you been affected by the underpayments? If so please call our newsdesk on 0208 612 7216, email news.desk@express.co.uk or write to Daily Express newsdesk, 10 Lower Thames Street, London EC3R 6EN.