Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of calculating Carer's Allowance eligibility over longer periods to help reduce the rate of overpayments and underpayments.

Carer’s Allowance is assessed on a weekly basis and paid either weekly or 4 weekly. Payment of Carer’s Allowance (CA) is dependent upon the person being cared for receiving a “trigger” DWP benefit, such as Disability Living Allowance, Personal independence Payment or Attendance Allowance, where entitlement is also assessed on a weekly basis. Where someone has fluctuating earnings, we try and find the most suitable period to average those earnings over to obtain the most accurate figure.

Liz Sayce OBE was commissioned to lead an Independent Review into overpayments of CA. The Government is carefully considering the recommendations of this Review which investigated how overpayments of CA related to earnings occurred, how we can best support those who have accrued them, and how to reduce the risk of these problems occurring in future.

We have already taken steps to improve the way CA operates and to support those who can combine their caring responsibilities with some paid work, including changing the weekly CA earnings limit to match 16 hours work at National Living Wage levels. This is the largest ever increase in the earnings limit since CA was introduced in 1976 and the highest percentage increase since 2001. Over 60,000 additional people will be able to receive CA between 2025/26 and 2029/30 as a result from investment worth around £500 million.

As with all benefits we keep Carer’s Allowance under review to see whether it is meeting its objectives.