Elected Member Briefing - Carer Support Payment

About this briefing note

Report by: Nicola Sutherland, Team Leader, Welfare Rights & Welfare Fund

Date: 22 November 2023

Subject: Carer Support Payment

Responsible Officer: Nicola Sutherland, Team Leader, Welfare Rights & Welfare Fund

Details

Purpose

This is an overview of the new Social Security Scotland benefit "Carer Support Payment" which is being piloted in the Western Isles, Dundee City, and Perth and Kinross Council areas. 

Briefing Information

The pilot began on Monday 20 November 2023 and replaces the DWP benefit "Carers Allowance" for unpaid carers that are not currently in receipt of Carers Allowance.  

Unpaid carers receiving Carers Allowance will not be transferred to Carer Support Payment until 2024, and Social Security Scotland are estimating that the transfer process will begin around Spring 2024. 

The main change to eligibility is that some full-time students will now be able to access the benefit. The Scottish Government estimates this will cover around 1,500 unpaid carers in total across Scotland. 

This pilot phase is similar to the pilot phase undertaken for both Child Disability Payment and Adult Disability Payment and will allow Social Security Scotland to do some learning before rolling out across the whole of Scotland. 

The Welfare Rights Team have attended Social Security Scotland training on the new benefit and we are in a position to advise households across Perth and Kinross if they think they may be eligible. We have updated all of our web pages to reflect the new benefit. 

Those that require advice can submit an online referral to the team via Make Welfare Rights Referral - Introduction or by telephone on 01738 476900 (option 1). 

For more information about Carer Support Payment please visit our Carer's Benefits page.

We will be sharing this note with all relevant networks including the Carers Strategy Group and the Joint Welfare Reform Steering Group. We will also be communicating the change via our Facebook pages.