Halt penalties on unpaid carers trapped in benefits scandal-Davey

Penalties imposed on thousands of unpaid carers who fall foul of the discredited carer's allowance benefit rules should be suspended until the government has fixed the system, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, Ed Davey, has said.

- Patrick Butler

A Guardian investigation last year revealed hundreds of thousands of unpaid carers had been landed with huge debts, and in some cases prosecuted for fraud, after being inadvertently trapped by chronic failures in the benefit's design and administration. Although the government promised a year ago to reform carer's allowance, there is increasing impatience among campaigners over the lack of progress.