Head of carer’s allowance inquiry blames DWP ‘resistance’ for failure to fix crisis

Liz Sayce says the DWP has to ‘shift the culture’ and ensure reforms are pushed through. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

The head of an official inquiry into carer’s allowance has criticised “forces of resistance” inside the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that undermined ministerial attempts to fix longstanding problems with the much-criticised benefit.

Liz Sayce, whose review of carer’s allowance was published in November, said rather than owning the problems, some at the DWP had tried to “minimise” the extent of the department’s failures and sought to deflect blame for the crisis.