Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what progress his Department has made on improving support for carers via the carer allowance system.

We have accepted or partially accepted 38 of the 40 recommendations in Liz Sayce’s independent review of Carer’s Allowance overpayments. We are working on plans to improve and modernise Carer’s Allowance (CA), making it easier for unpaid carers to combine their caring responsibilities with paid work where they can, and rewarding them more for doing so.

The department also provides support to unpaid carers through income-related benefits, which can be paid to carers at a higher rate than those without caring responsibilities. Universal Credit and Pension Credit pay an extra £2,500 a year to 1.1 million unpaid carers through the carer element and carer addition respectively.

We have also increased the weekly Carer's Allowance earnings limit to match 16 hours work at National Living Wage levels. This change from April 2025 resulted in the largest ever increase in the limit to £196 net earnings a week and the highest percentage increase since 2001. In April 2026 the earnings limit increased to £204 per week. This means more than 60,000 additional people will be able to receive Carer's Allowance between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as result. This change will mean that those working 16 hours and receiving the NLW will be sure that they can receive CA that week.

The Carer’s Leave Act 2023 gave employees a right to time off to care for someone who is disabled or has a long-term health condition for the first time and the Plan to Make Work Pay review announced in November 2025  presents an opportunity to consider our approach to employment rights for unpaid carers, particularly leave entitlements, giving due consideration to balancing costs and benefits to both businesses and the exchequer.