Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of making carer's allowance available to (a) pensioners and (b) students in full-time education.

The Government recognises and appreciates the vital contribution made by informal carers who provide invaluable support for relatives, partners, friends and neighbours who may be ill, frail or disabled. We are already supporting carers in a number of ways, including through the benefit system. Since 2010 the rate of Carer’s Allowance (CA) has increased from £53.90 to £64.60 a week, meaning an additional £550 a year for carers. By 2022/23 we are forecast to spend £3.7bn a year on CA, a real terms increase of more than a third since 2016/17.

Access to CA for pensioners and full-time students reflect long-standing principles of the benefit system and we have no plans to change the rules.

Although there is no age limit to claiming CA, it cannot normally be paid with the State Pension. CA replaces income where the carer has given up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to care for a severely disabled person, while State Pension replaces income in retirement. For this reason, social security rules operate to prevent them being paid together, to avoid duplicate provision for the same need. However, if a carer’s State Pension is less than CA, State Pension is paid and topped up with CA to the basic weekly rate of CA. Where CA cannot be paid, the person will keep underlying entitlement to the benefit. This gives access to the additional amount for carers in Pension Credit of £36.00 a week, and even if a pensioner’s income is above the limit for Pension Credit, he or she may still be able to receive Housing Benefit.

The Government thinks it is right that people in full-time education should be supported by the educational maintenance system, via its range of loans and grants, and not the social security benefit system. That is why, as a general principle, full-time students are usually precluded from entitlement to income-related and income-maintenance benefits. Part-time students may be able to claim CA though.