DWP chief accused of overseeing ‘culture of complacency’ that led to carer’s allowance scandal

A UK parliamentary committee chair, Debbie Abrahams, has accused the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) permanent secretary, Sir Peter Schofield, of overseeing a "culture of complacency" that led to a carer's allowance scandal. This follows a Guardian investigation revealing that many unpaid carers incurred significant overpayment debts due to DWP errors. Abrahams expressed skepticism about Schofield's promises to fix the issues, citing past failures and a senior civil servant's blaming of carers for the overpayments, which contradicts an independent review that found systemic DWP failures were the cause. She raised concerns about a broader culture within the DWP that blames claimants and fails to prioritize vulnerable individuals. The committee questions the DWP's commitment to addressing the carer's allowance failures, which have been compared to the Post Office scandal.

Explore how the topics in this article connect to other news stories

Discover articles with similar content using semantic similarity analysis.