The handbrake on my VW Passat Estate B5 has suddenly become slack.

* With the handbrake on, the faulty side wheel is free to turn by hand. Foot brake works as normal
* Lifting the center console, I can see from the equalizer that one-side is slack
* Looking at the "slack" caliper, the lever connected to the cable is in the fully-on position and does not retract when the brake is released
	+ Note: When the brake is released, the cable does become slack at the caliper end, so the cable does not appear to be binding

Last time I had some work done on the brakes (replace brake light switch), the handbrake did have a springier feel than before and could be pulled much higher.

I suspect some kind of cam on the wet side of the piston has gone past the point of no return.

Any ideas?