Government's ESA errors are a measure of their utter incompetence - Margaret Greenwood

Margaret Greenwood MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on the National Audit Office investigation into the Government's underpayment errors in Employment and Support Allowance, said:

“It is a measure of the Government’s utter incompetence that at least 70,000 people with disabilities or serious illnesses in receipt of ESA have been underpaid thousands of pounds.

“This report reveals the true extent of the catalogue of failures from officials and Ministers on this issue, including their failure to act when the error was first identified, the time it took for Ministers to come clean about the error and the significant delays in contacting and repaying the tens of thousands of people affected.

"The Government must immediately act to ensure those affected receive in full the payments they are legally due."