This is an HTML version of an attachment to the Freedom of Information request 'Civil Penalty'.

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) 
Central Freedom of Information Team 
 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xxx.xx 
 
Our reference: VTR 5077 
Date: 22 December 2014 
 
Dear Ms Edwards, 
 
Thank you for your Freedom of Information request received on 20 November 
2014. You asked:  
 
A civil penalty of £50 may be imposed on people who either make incorrect 
statements in their benefit claims without taking reasonable steps to correct 
them or who fail promptly to provide information or evidence or report 
changes in their circumstances without reasonable excuse, resulting in each 
case in an overpayment of benefit". 
 
The DWP would normally carry this out when the overpayment is £65 or more 
and are able to deduct a maximum of £10.65p from the claimants benefit.The 
overpayment is also recovered. 
 
1 Since October 1st 2012  How many civil penalties have been imposed by 
the Department and how much revenue have these  generated. ? 
 
2 This penalty is called a Civil Penalty is it enforcable in law ?  
 
3 How many of these Civil Penalties decisons have been revised in the 
customers favour after a review, or reconsideration 
 
1.  For Period Oct 2012 - Oct 2014 
Volume of New Civil Penalty Debt  
0.145m
Value of New Civil Penalty Debts  
£7.241m
Total Value of Recovered Civil Penalties 
£4.858m
 
NB: The value of recoveries is net of any reversals 
 
2.  Civil penalties are dealt with in legislation under s115C Social Security 
Administration Act 1992. When a civil penalty has been imposed in 
accordance with conditions/requirements set out in s115C, s115(4) 
provides that a penalty imposed under 115(2) is recoverable by the 
appropriate authority.  
 
3.  Decisions made by The Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) relating to 
civil penalties are reviewed, or reconsidered, by the office which administers 
the claim to benefit.       
 

DWP may hold information falling within the description specified in the request.  
However, we estimate that the cost of complying with the request would exceed 
the appropriate limit of £600.  The appropriate limit has been specified in 
regulations and for central Government it is set at £600.  This represents the 
estimated cost of one person spending 3½ working days in determining whether 
DWP holds the information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information. 
Under section 12 of the Freedom of Information Act DWP is not obliged to comply 
with this request and we will not be processing the request further.  
 
DWP maintains a record of the Mandatory Reconsideration and Appeals received 
from customers relating to civil penalty decisions.   
 
The following information provides confirmation of the decisions made by The 
Pensions Dispute Resolutions Team for the period 1 October 2012 to 19 December 
2014 in respect of appeals and mandatory reconsiderations only.              
 
Decisions Notified to Customer for the period 1 October 2012 to 27 October 
2013
 
 
  11 Appeals Withdrawn  
  9 Appeals Dismissed  
  7 Appeals Allowed  
 
 
Decisions Notified to Customer for the period 28 October 2013 to 19 December 
2014
 
 
Mandatory Reconsiderations: - 
 
  76 advantageous Mandatory Reconsiderations  
  46 unchanged Mandatory Reconsiderations 
 
Directly Lodged Appeals: - 
 
  1 Appeal Withdrawn 
  1 Appeal Dismissed 
  1 Appeal Lapsed in customers favour 
  1 Appeal Allowed 
 
If you have any queries about this letter please contact us quoting the 
reference number above.   
Yours sincerely,  
 
 
DWP Central FoI Team 
 
 

 
Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act 
 
If you are not happy with this response you may request an internal review by e-mailing 
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@xxx.xxx.xxx.xx or by writing to: DWP, Central FoI Team,  
Caxton House, Tothill Street, SW1H 9NA. Any review request should be submitted within two 
months of the date of this letter.  
 
If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the 
Information Commissioner’s Office for a decision. Generally the Commissioner cannot make a 
decision unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information 
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, 
Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF 
www.ico.org.uk/Global/contact_us  or telephone 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745