Now Reading: Recognising unpaid carers
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Recognising unpaid carers
New payment for people caring for more than one person
Proposals to further expand and improve the benefits available to unpaid carers in Scotland have been laid before the Scottish Parliament.
Among the changes are plans to introduce a new payment worth up to £520 annually for people who care for more than one person – benefiting an estimated 18,000 carers – and to extend eligibility for the Young Carer Grant to 19-year-olds.
This builds on previous changes following the transfer of responsibility for carer benefits from the UK Government to the Scottish Government, including the introduction of new benefits such as Carer’s Allowance Supplement.
Around 130,000 people are entitled to Scottish Government carer benefits in Scotland.
The Scottish Government recognises the immense contribution carers make to our society through caring for family, friends and neighbours. That is why we have made it a priority to deliver a series of improvements to better support them following the transfer of carer benefit awards from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland.
CABINET SECRETARY FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE, SHIRLEY-ANNE SOMERVILLE
We have a very different approach to social security in Scotland, with dignity, fairness and respect at its heart, and these changes build on previous work to help improve the lives of carers. We have already introduced Carer’s Allowance Supplement and the Young Carer Grant – which are only available in Scotland – and widened eligibility for Carer Support Payment to enable more carers in education to access it.
This is another major milestone in the process of delivering devolved social security and in building a system that better meets the needs of carers and disabled people in Scotland.
Background
Carer Support Payment has been available for new applications across the whole of Scotland since 4 November 2024. A ‘case transfer’ process, which provides for the transfer of Carer’s Allowance awards for carers in Scotland from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and onto Carer Support Payment administered by Social Security Scotland, began in February 2024 and is now nearly complete.
Subject to Parliamentary approval, carers from March next year may be eligible to receive Carer Support, a new benefit combining three components:
- Carer Support Payment – the Scottish equivalent of Carer’s Allowance (£83.30 per week)
- Scottish Carer Supplement – replaces Carer’s Allowance Supplement, an extra payment for carers in Scotland receiving Carer Support Payment (£11.29 per week)
- Carer Additional Person Payment – an extra payment of £520 per year, paid weekly, available to people caring for more than one person
Other changes proposed include:
- Extending eligibility for the Young Carer Grant to 19-year-olds from November
- Extending eligibility for Carer Support following the death of the cared-for person from 8 to 12 weeks.
- Removing the requirement for carers to have cared for a certain period before they can continue to get support, when they have a temporary break from caring
