Senior DWP civil servant blames victims for carer’s allowance scandal

A senior Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) civil servant, Neil Couling, sparked controversy by blaming carers for the carer's allowance overpayment scandal in an internal blog post. This contradicts an independent review that found systemic DWP failures and poor benefit design were the primary causes of the issue, which has left many carers with significant debts and emotional distress. Couling's post, which was later removed, claimed that carers' failure to report changes in circumstances was the root of the overpayments. Charities and politicians have criticized Couling's stance, emphasizing the DWP's responsibility to address the problems identified in the independent review. The review highlighted a decade of leadership failures within the DWP despite repeated warnings about the benefit's issues.

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