Social Security Benefits: Compensation
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the answer of 23 February 2026 to Question 110973, what proportion of the consolatory payment was as a result of a decision by the Independent Case Examiner to increase the payment offered by his Department in each of the last 5 years.
Answered by Andrew Western
As part of its investigations, the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) reviews any remedies (including consolatory payments) already offered by DWP during its own complaints process. ICE considers whether these remedies were appropriate and adequately reflected the impact of maladministration. This assessment informs the findings ICE reaches and any recommendations it makes. However, ICE does not record information on the level of consolatory payments that DWP may have made prior to escalation to ICE.
The Department does record consolatory payments recommended by ICE. However, identifying what proportion of these payments were made specifically because ICE increased the offer originally made by the Department’s complaints service would require a manual review of individual case files, as this level of detail is not held in an accessible format.
Carrying out this work would exceed the cost limit set for central Government, and we are therefore unable to provide the information requested.
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