“Moreover, I am concerned that these attitudes may be more widespread, and indicative of a culture within the department that blames claimants for errors and fails to recognise the needs of vulnerable people.”

This is one of the cards in Digital Benefits and Disbenefits Cornucopia @DBD_Cornucopia See card “Queen of Trust”

#carersallowance #dwp #welfarebenefits #carers #uk #servicedesign #designdiscretion

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/feb/04/dwp-chief-accused-of-overseeing-culture-of-complacency-that-led-to-carers-allowance-scandal

Claimants primarily blamed by DWP, despite how the DWP could have done more. The official found that "longstanding and 'unacceptable' systemic DWP leadership problems and poor benefit design were at the root of the failure, which it said could not be blamed on carers." So, not the legislation or regulations, but instead discretionary choices made by civil servants.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/dec/06/senior-dwp-civil-servant-blames-victims-for-carers-allowance-scandal

#dwp #carersallowancescandal #carersallowance #designdiscretion #welfarebenefits #uk

Anything but Basic Income, isn't it?

Gotta make us all jump through hoops for government money, how dare we exist and have needs...

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/25/failures-tory-ministers-welfare-officials-carers-allowance-crisis-review-finds

#CarersAllowance #UKPOL #UKPOLITICS #BasicIncome #Tories #Poverty #Health #Caring

"Many carers said they were harassed and treated like criminals by DWP staff. Hundreds were convicted of benefit fraud”

DWP to reassess hundreds of thousands of cases in carer’s allowance scandal
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/nov/25/dwp-to-reassess-hundreds-of-thousands-of-cases-in-carers-allowance-scandal

#welfarebenefits #carers #dwp #claimants #fakefraud #carersallowance

Ed Davey Calls for Suspension of Carer’s Allowance Penalties Amid System Failures

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has urged the UK government to suspend penalties imposed on unpaid carers who have breached the discredited carer’s allowance rules, pending a comprehensive reform of the system. A Guardian investigation revealed that hundreds of thousands of carers face significant ... [More info]

DWP PIP changes will hit carers with a £650 million cut every year
https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2025/05/31/dwp-pip-carers-cuts/

#DWP
#PIP
#CarersAllowance
#Carers

Presumably “In future, all reports will be checked, so that claimants can be notified and avoid getting into debt” means more carers will be identified as claiming the Carers Allowance benefit when they are deemed ineligible, meaning more “fraud” detected by the DWP and less build up of that “overpayment” but many more people losing support (and still having to repay every previous penny received?).

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/apr/15/the-guardian-view-on-unpaid-carers-the-scandal-of-their-allowances-is-far-from-over

#carersallowance #welfarebenefits #socialprotection #carers #dwp #uk