One of Rishi Sunak’s dementia advisers has resigned over the government’s approach to unpaid carers, describing the prosecution of vulnerable people as “excessive”.
Johnny Timpson, who advised No 10 on its dementia strategy, said he wanted to ‘take a stand’ after the Guardian revealed tens of thousands of unpaid carers were being hit with huge fines and in some cases prosecuted for minor breaches of income rules.
The former Cabinet Office adviser said he had been “quite disappointed” with the Conservative government’s approach to people with disabilities for some time, but this had now come to a head.
“The fact that we have made absolutely no progress on social care (and) that we really have not supported healthcare providers adequately during the pandemic,” he said. “But the latter – the approach the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions) is taking to claw back benefits from carers and people with disabilities, especially those with neurological disabilities – really goes beyond all bounds for me.”
The Guardian has in recent weeks revealed and documented the desperation and misery experienced by unpaid carers who are forced to pay huge fines – and sometimes prosecuted for fraud – after minor breaches of carers’ earnings rules, amounting to a few pounds .
They include a 92-year-old woman with late-stage Parkinson’s disease who was ordered to pay back almost £7,000 in disability benefits after leaving the unit five years ago when she was in the early stages of dementia. had not been informed of a change in circumstances. The DWP has said it is urgently reviewing its case.
Timpson, who was awarded an OBE in 2022, was on the Prime Minister’s dementia-friendly communities champion group. He was previously the Cabinet Office Disability Ambassador.
He said the DWP’s approach to health benefits was at odds with its own policy on protecting vulnerable benefit claimants. “The DWP has its own policy and practice for vulnerable customers and quite frankly is not following that,” he said.
“We have a huge regulatory focus on basic customer support in regulated sectors and the DWP is completely out of step with what is happening in private sector organizations – and no one has really been taken into account, so I wanted to take a stand and bring this putting forward. ”
He said the DWP had become “too big and too remote” and may need to be disbanded as part of wider reform of the welfare sector.
In addition, one of the government’s disability ambassadors, Kathryn Townsend, has described the DWP’s approach as “extremely worrying” and insisted The department must immediately stop reclaiming excess healthcare allowance payments.
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Townsend, the banking sector’s disability ambassador, said in a letter to Pensions Minister Mims Davies that reports of unpaid carers being forced to pay back huge sums were “extremely worrying”. She added that they “increased the risk of financial and non-financial harm faced by these already vulnerable individuals.”
The criticism came as Davies prepared to face tough questions from MPs on the House of Commons work and pensions committee on Wednesday.
The DWP has been contacted for comment. A spokesperson previously said: “Carers across Britain are unsung heroes making a huge difference to someone else’s life. Since 2010 we have increased healthcare benefits by almost £1,500. Our most recent statistics show that the excess healthcare benefit paid in relation to income is 2.1%. of the £3.3 billion we spend supporting those who care for our loved ones.
“Claimants have a responsibility to notify DWP of any changes in their circumstances that may affect their award, and with safeguards in place to manage repayments, this will ensure fairness in our welfare system.”