Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to help ensure that (a) carers and (b) family members of people with (i) mental health problems and (ii) psychiatric disorders are supported, in the context of proposed changes to disability health benefits.

We will consider potential impacts of our reforms on people with all health conditions, including mental health conditions, as part of our wider consideration of responses to the consultation and as we develop our detailed proposals for change.

This includes any impacts on unpaid carers, who provide invaluable support to people with health conditions, are frail or disabled, and who this government is committed to supporting.

As we introduce changes to PIP eligibility, we are mindful of the potential impact on unpaid carers. The recently published Bill commits to providing a 13-week run-on for existing claimants who – at their next award review – are no longer eligible for PIP as a result of this change. This will include passporting to other entitlements such as Carers Allowance, allowing the carer a longer period of adjustment.

We are also taking action to improve Carer’s Allowance separate to the Green Paper. We have pegged the weekly Carer’s Allowance earnings limit to 16 hours’ work at National Living Wage (NLW) levels, and in future it will increase when the NLW increases. The Carer’s Allowance earnings limit increased to be £196 a week net earnings on 7 April 2025, compared to £151 in 24/25. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since Carer’s Allowance was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive Carer’s Allowance between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result.

We will also continue to work closely with the Department for Health and Social Care to further assess the impacts of reforms and to see how best health and care needs can continue to be met