A senior civil servant at the Department for Work and Pensions has sparked outrage by blaming unpaid carers for the long-running carer's allowance scandal, directly contradicting the findings of an independent government-commissioned review.
Internal Blogpost Sparks Fury
In an internal blogpost for Whitehall colleagues, Neil Couling, the DWP's director general of services, claimed individual failings by carers were "at the heart" of the overpayment crisis. This issue has been compared by some to the Post Office Horizon scandal for its devastating impact on victims.
The post was removed after The Guardian inquired about its contents. Couling argued that overpayments ultimately occurred because carers failed to report fluctuations in their earnings that breached complex benefit rules. He described the DWP's own guidance on averaging earnings as "rather byzantine," an error he admitted the department would rectify.
Review Finds Systemic DWP Failures 'Unacceptable'
Couling's stance is completely at odds with the official government position and the conclusions of the independent Sayce review, led by disability rights expert Liz Sayce. Published last month, the review found "unacceptable" systemic DWP leadership problems and poor benefit design were the root cause.
The report stated the crisis could not be blamed on carers and revealed that some victims, trapped by outdated and complex rules, felt such shame and distress they contemplated suicide. It described the experience as being "at the whim of a faceless machine."
The review concluded that senior DWP leaders had failed for at least a decade to address known problems, despite repeated warnings from whistleblowers, auditors, and MPs.
Charities and Politicians Condemn 'Serious Error of Judgment'
The response from carer advocacy groups and politicians was swift and damning. Kirsty McHugh, chief executive of Carers Trust, called Couling's comments a "really serious error of judgment" and urged the DWP to stand by the review's findings and return money to carers.
Emily Holzhausen of Carers UK said blaming claimants "misses the point entirely," stating the root cause is a "confusing, complex and difficult to navigate system."
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said he was "disgusted" by the blogpost, adding it showed "some senior DWP people have learned nothing about the scale of the misery their policies and procedures inflicted."
The Scale of the Scandal and Government Response
The scandal came to light following a Guardian investigation which revealed how unpaid carers were hit with draconian penalties of up to £20,000 after unwittingly accruing overpayments.
In response to the Sayce review, the government announced it would reassess overpayments from the past decade. It estimates 200,000 cases will be reviewed, with around 26,000 likely to have debts cancelled or reduced.
Last week, DWP Permanent Secretary Sir Peter Schofield apologised to MPs, calling the situation a "mess" and vowing to sort it out. This marks a reversal from six years ago when he refused three times to apologise for carer's allowance failures.
Official figures show that between 2019 and 2025, 180,000 carers ran up debts totalling £300m under his watch—roughly one in five claimants. During this period, 854 carers were convicted of fraud.
A DWP spokesperson stated: "We have been clear, and remain of the view, that we accept the vast majority of recommendations put forward in the Sayce review... We will continue putting things right and rebuilding trust by reassessing affected cases."
