Carer Benefits Advisory Group minutes: August 2024

Attendees and apologies

Present

• Angela Toal, Child Poverty Action Group
• Beth Friel, Carers Trust
• Claire Cairns, Coalition of Carers
• Fiona Collie, Carers Scotland
• David Anderson, Oonagh Fraser, Social Security Analysis, Forecasting and Evaluation Unit, Scottish Government (SG)
• Roisin Connolly, Connecting Carers
• Sharon McGuire, Scottish Government Carer Policy
• Stephanie Miller, Citizens Advice Scotland
• Alice Crawford, Dawn Kane, Ellen Searle, Euan Geddes, Hana Wilde, Jane Sterry, Kamay Whytock, Kate Thomson-McDermott (Chair), Lynn Shaw, Victoria Boal (Secretariat), Scottish Government Carer Benefits Policy

Apologies

• Jill Wood, Engender
• John Cunningham, COSLA
• Salena Begley, Family Fund
• Shirley Morris, VOCAL
• Stephen McCabe, Scottish Government Winter and Disability Benefits

Items and actions

Minutes, actions from previous meeting & updates

Members were welcomed to the group and apologies were noted. Minutes from the previous meeting in April were also agreed upon with no changes.

Updates were given on actions from the previous meeting.

Backdating content: SG officials confirmed that resources had been created  covering the different rules around backdating for different carer situations. This was included in the targeted stakeholder roadshow on education rules and backdating. As part of the phase 3 of roll out, officials confirmed that they have also added more information on backdating to our mygov pages and put this in a separate section to make this clearer and easier to find: Backdated Carer Support Payment - mygov.scot. Officials noted that they are also working with colleague on communications on providing further information for stakeholders covering the more complex areas of CSP, including backdating, which can be shared with members once finalised.  

Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) also advised that their next welfare rights bulletin will be published shortly in October 2024. This will feature an article on Carer’s Allowance overpayments and CPAG will share this with members when it is published.

Actions

• SG officials to share backdating resources when available with members
• CPAG to share their article on Carer’s Allowance overpayments with members when it is published

Carer Support Payment – live

Officials provided an update on the live rollout of CSP, which will be available nationally from 4 November 2024. Case Transfer is still ongoing. High level statistics, published on 13 August 2024, were also highlighted. 

A series of virtual ‘roadshows’ are being delivered to carer organisations who support carers in the local authority areas in which CSP has been rolled out to. Further events will run in September, ahead of the national launch of the benefit. 

In the following discussion, members queried as to whether carers for whom the backdating rules apply have to apply via phoning Social Security Scotland. Officials confirmed that carers under these circumstances would be able to apply by either phone, video call, paper form, or through Local Delivery. The application form on the website will not allow carers to select a start date of more than 13 weeks, and will instead prompt carers to apply by phone. Members advised that there have been cases of students being unsure as to when to apply for CSP. Officials acknowledged that the advice online is general, however with members feedback we can look into providing more specific information for such scenarios. 

Actions

• officials to highlight any specific issues raised by members to Service Improvement Team, as per feedback from members

Carer Support Payment – Priority Improvements

Officials presented on the draft regulations and impact assessments for the priority improvements being made to Carer Support Payment.

Integrating Carer’s Allowance Supplement into regular payments alongside Carer Support Payment
It was noted that the Carer’s Allowance Supplement Evaluation highlighted how some carers like the current payment cycle of a twice yearly payment. The consultation on Carer Support Payment sought views on integrating the supplement alongside regular payments of CSP. Under the new proposals, carers whose earnings fluctuate would receive some CAS during weeks where they are eligible. 

There is a possibility that it may be possible to calculate carer’s eligibility on a weekly basis whilst still issuing six month payments but these payments would be 6 months in arrears. Given the fact CAS is paid 3 months in advance and 3 months in arrears, this would mean that while carers’ entitlement would not be interrupted, the move between the payment cycles would mean carers would not receive the same level of payments as they would have otherwise anticipated. Therefore, the current proposal of integrating CAS into regular payments is still being viewed as the best option by both officials and members (given the latter’s own research). 

Introducing Carer’s Additional Person Payment (CAPP)

This change would introduce a £10 per week payment to carers caring for more than one person. The cared for person would need to be in receipt of a qualifying benefit, and the carer would have to be providing a minimum of twenty hours of caring per week to the additional cared-for person. Entitlement to CAPP would be identified when carers apply for CSP or are submitting a change of circumstances. Officials also sought views on whether members believed that there should be a ‘cap on ‘CAPP’, as it is important to ensure that no carers are disadvantaged.  

Members overall felt a statutory limit is not necessary as there is a natural limit due to the cared for person requiring to be receiving a qualifying disability benefit and that only one CAPP award can be received per cared for person. Members also noted concerns that larger families were already subject to the two-child benefit cap limit and that there are many families who have hereditary conditions where some or all of the family members are affected, and that single parents would be more adversely affected than two parent families. Members did, however, recognise the challenges of the complexity for systems and carers alike, and that there is a limit on how many caring hours can be carried out each day, even recognising that many carers will be caring for family members simultaneously. If there were a limit, members preference was five to seven and noted in their experience someone caring for six or more disabled people would be rare.

Extension to bereavement run-on

This change was also reflected in the public consultation, and would increase the bereavement run-on for CSP from eight to twelve weeks following on from the death of a cared-for person. 

Officials requested that if members had data on how many caring roles end with bereavement, that they share this with them. Join up work and signposting will be utilised to ensure that carers are directed to additional advice and support. There is also work ongoing on ensuring that this proposal does not impact carer’s financial support from reserved benefits, due to their complex links with CSP. It was also suggested by members that Marie Curie may be able to assist with the number of disability benefits being claimed by people under ‘special rules’.

Extending Young Carer Grant (YCG) to 19 year olds

The grant will be extended to 19 year olds, regardless of their education status. This means that from the ages of 16 – 19, young carers will be able to apply for and receive up to four payments. Young carers will still be eligible to receive Carer Support Payment following on from YCG if they continue to care.

Officials advised that the number of 19 year olds providing over 16 hours of care or more is the same as those aged 18. It is currently anticipated that this would mean an additional 1,000 YCG applications per year, as per the current YCG statistics Officials advised that the resources and processes required to deliver this proposal had been identified, and that they are just waiting on the budget being secured to deliver it in 2025/26.

Naming conventions

Carer’s Allowance Supplement will need to be renamed to reflect that it will be a component of Carer Support Payment, but officials are keen to ensure that it remains recognisable to those carers on legacy benefits. User Research conducted showed that out of ‘Carer Supplement’ and ‘Scottish Carer Supplement’, 85% of participants preferred the latter.

This same survey tested a number of options for the name of CAPP: 34% of respondents preferred CAPP.

Carer Support Payment – Join-up

Officials presented on the join-up work taking place surrounding Carer Support Payment, thanking members for their input on the work so far. The aim is to support carers at key points in their lives and caring journeys, allowing them to access opportunities outside of caring, where possible, should they wish to do so.

The ways in which this information will be presented has been user tested with Third Sector Organisations and carers, and able to be utilised across different channels. Any insights gained from this testing will inform future versions of materials. 

Signposting will be included where possible and appropriate – e.g. in the annual uprating letter, in the CSP online application form, or in any letters relating to disability. This will continuously be reviewed for improvements. Client Advisors in Social Security Scotland will also have access to resources for when they are in communication with clients.

Carer Centre managers have expressed concerns about some of these materials, suggesting that they could increase pressure on carer centres. Members noted that Carer Centres have observed a 30 – 50% increase in referrals and are beyond capacity. It was agreed that this should be continuously monitored, and officials will work with Carer Policy colleagues as well as carer centre managers to regularly check in. Work on join-up will also be evaluated and refined continuously, with officials also continuing to seek any additional opportunities for more targeted signposting.

Actions

• officials to contact Marie Curie re: the number of disability benefits being claimed by people under ‘special rules’
• to continue to monitor the pressures on carer centres and how to mitigate these at the future meetings

Case Transfer – update

Case Transfer began in February across the whole of Scotland. As of 30 June, 520 awards have been transferred over to CSP. A further 5,130 awards are currently going through the transfer process. Recently, the process has increased, with 1,000 awards being selected for transfer each day. There is a 13-14 day window between a case being selected and fully transferred over. 

In general, the process is going well and ensuring a safe and secure transfer process whilst protecting carer’s links with reserved benefits. Members advised that there have been cases of students choosing to stop their Carer’s Allowance claim and then reapplying for CSP separately. 

Officials also updated on proposals for around 1,200 carers in Scotland that are continuing to be paid Carer’s Allowance under ‘Transitional Protection’. An agreement with the DWP that they will continue to deliver Carer’s Allowance to these clients on behalf of Scottish Ministers and that they will not transfer to Carer Support Payment. 

This is because the minimum age of anyone in this group is now 87 and over 75% no longer care for anyone because the person they previously cared for has unfortunately now died. Only 3 individuals in this group are paid Carer’s Allowance, while the rest have underlying entitlement to the benefit, and processes are being agreed to ensure the 3 in payment continue to be paid the Carer’s Allowance Supplement.

Actions

• officials will also share information regarding transitional protection with members, in order to provide advice to any carers that get in touch with enquiries

Carer Benefits Policy Evaluation

Officials confirmed that the Evaluation approach is in line with the 2019 devolved benefits strategy. This involved creating a logic model to illustrate process and policy outcomes; as well as using a range of data sources to measure progress towards these outcomes. The evaluation will examine:

• the case transfer of Carer’s Allowance
• the impact of policy changes to CSP
• the extent to which YCG and CAS are achieving their policy objectives
• how CSP, CAS and YCG will contribute to overarching long-term government outcomes
• any implications of future policy developments
• the cross-cutting focus on equalities

Members were invited to join the research advisory group for the overall body of this work. Officials will share logic models and slides with members.

Actions

• Officials will share logic models and slides with members

AOB and close

It was pointed out that the next meeting falls on Carers Rights Day 2024. Officials will share a survey confirming the next date shortly.

Actions

• officials to confirm a new date for the next meeting