The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has hit back at reports it admitted to underpaying the State pensions of 30,000 people, arguing the number was a margin for error not a statistic.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, the issue had been linked to mistakes in National Insurance (NI) records in the government's database. A DWP spokesperson explained, however, that the 30,000 number stemmed from a 0.2% margin for error used on department estimates to give a "high-level" indication of potential over and underpayments of NI by the department. They added: "There is no evidence to suggest this is fixed. It is a high-level estimate based on the accounts the DWP produces when considering how effectively we deliver the State pension for people. The use of this 0.2% f...
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