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