Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing the number of hours of care per week required to qualify for Carer's Allowance.

It is a long-standing principle, under successive Governments, since Carer’s Allowance was introduced, that the threshold for the number of hours spent caring is 35 hours a week.

Unpaid carers play a vital role in supporting elderly or disabled relatives or friends. Sometimes unpaid carers will need to turn to the benefit system for financial support, so it is right that we keep Carer’s Allowance under review, to see if it is meeting its objectives, and giving unpaid carers the help and support they need and deserve.