Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the New Enterprise Allowance is not available to carers on income support.

For those with caring responsibilities, Income Support is in place to support them while they provide ‘substantial and regular’ care. We have not made this group eligible for New Enterprise Allowance (NEA) as it would be unreasonable to require them to spend a significant amount of time developing a business on top of their caring responsibilities.

If they feel they do have the time to participate in the NEA they are entitled to change their claim to Jobseekers Allowance and could then be eligible for NEA.