Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support her Department provides people who have become carers during the covid-19 outbreak.

The Department has provided significant additional support for carers during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The role that unpaid carers play has perhaps been more important than ever over the last year or so. That is why we have focussed on ensuring carers do not inadvertently stop receiving Carer’s Allowance because of changes to patterns of care. This includes allowing emotional support to count towards the 35 hours of care being provided by the carer as well as relaxing the rules around breaks in care. These changes aim to support carers whose role, in many cases, became harder due to the need to self-isolate or shield the person they care for. These provisions will be in place until the end of August 2021 providing unpaid carers receiving Carer’s Allowance with some extra flexibility in the way they provide care.

As well as Carer’s Allowance, carers have access to the full range of social security benefits. For example, carers on Universal Credit can receive around an additional £1,950 a year through the Carer Element. And due to the temporary Covid-19 uplift, around 300,000 carer households receiving Universal Credit benefitted from an additional £1,040 during the 20/21 financial year. So this Government has chosen to focus extra support on those carers who need it most.

And very importantly the Department worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England to help identify unpaid carers who were eligible for a Covid vaccine as part of Priority Group 6. As a result, more than half a million carers receiving benefit received a letter inviting them to book an appointment for a vaccine.