The latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that in May last year there were 936,766 people receiving weekly payments of £69.70 for Carer’s Allowance, including 81,682 living in Scotland.
Carer’s Allowance will rise in line with inflation from April and increase from £69.70 per week to £76.75, however, claimants will not be eligible for the new £900 means-tested cost of living payment unless they are also in receipt of a qualifying, means-tested benefit. The £900 payment will be delivered in three lump sums of £301, £300 and £299, with the first payment due this Spring.
Several MPs recently asked DWP if it has “made an assessment of the potential merits of providing a cost of living payment to unpaid carers” since the support began last July, to which the response has always been sympathetic, but unwavering on the eligibility rules, often explaining how statistically, some 60 per cent of unpaid carers are living in a household where someone is in receipt of a qualifying means-tested benefits.
