What is Carer Support Payment?
Carer Support Payment will replace Carer’s Allowance in Scotland and is planned to launch nationally in Scotland in Spring 2024.
When it first launches entitlement to Carer Support Payment will broadly mirror Carer’s Allowance. This is to safely and securely transfer the awards of people in Scotland receiving Carer’s Allowance from the Department for Work and Pensions to Social Security Scotland. This process is called case transfer and it is planned to start during 2023.
What changes will be made to Carer Support Payment in 2024?
When Carer Support Payment launches in Spring 2024, the Scottish Government are committed to:
- Extend entitlement to those unpaid carers over 20 years old in full-time education at any level.
- Extend entitlement to those aged 16 to 19 in full-time advanced further and higher education (studying at HNC level and above).
- Update the past presence test – meaning that those moving to Scotland from out with the Common Travel Area will be able to access the benefit more quickly.
What changes will be made to Carer Support Payment once all cases are transferred to Social Security Scotland?
Scottish Government plan to make a range of further improvements once case transfer is complete. This is likely to happen later on in 2024/25. Scottish Government are committed to:
- Introduce a new supplement payment for those caring for more than one person, which will provide eligible unpaid carers an additional £10 per week. This payment will be known as ‘Carer’s Additional Person Payment’ and will be introduced as soon as practical. Payment will be paid alongside regular payments of Carer Support Payment.
- Increase the ‘run on’ of support after a cared for person dies from 8 week currently under Carer’s Allowance to 12 weeks, as soon as practical.
- Pay new claims for Carer Support Payment every four weeks, with weekly advance payments only in case of terminal illness. There are currently no plans to give claimants the choice of weekly payments.
- Consider support for student carers aged 16-19 in non-advanced education (mostly those at school and those studying below HNC level).
- Continue to pay Carer’s Allowance Supplement (the additional top up payment to unpaid carers in Scotland) but to move to pay this alongside regular payments of Carer Support Payment as soon as practical. This will mean that Scottish Government will no longer deliver this as two lump sums per year but will provide unpaid carers with a higher regular income.
- Continue to explore the option of allowing caring hours to be added across two cared for people to meet the required hours eligibility for Carer Support Payment.
- Set Carer Support Payment to £0 when the cared for person goes into hospital and their disability benefit is stopped. Allowing Carer Support Payment to begin again soon after the cared for person leaves hospital, with no need for the unpaid carer to reapply (which is currently the process under Carer’s Allowance).
- Continue to consider the ‘run on’ period of support after the cared for person goes into hospital from 4 weeks when the cared for person’s disability benefits stops.
- Consider making amendments to increasing the earnings threshold (this is £139 a week or less a week after tax for 2023/24).
- Longer term consideration for introducing an additional payment for long term carers
To find out more the changes to the new Carer Support Payment, you can read the Scottish Government’s Response to the Scottish Carer’s Assistance Consultation
