Carer Support Payment: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Executive Summary

1. The Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (‘the 2018 Act’) sets out the broad framework for the delivery of devolved social security in Scotland. On 1 April 2018, Scottish Ministers took executive and legal competence for Carer’s Allowance.

2. Since 2018, Carer’s Allowance has continued to be delivered during a transition period by DWP under the terms of an Agency Agreement with the Scottish Government. This is a key component of ensuring the safe and secure devolution of Carer’s Allowance.

3. The Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations set out how the Scottish Government will deliver our replacement for Carer's Allowance, Carer Support Payment. This was formerly known as Scottish Carer's Assistance which was the working title for the benefit. The aim of Carer Support Payment is to provide some replacement income for unpaid carers in Scotland who are less able to take on paid work.

4. In addition to allowing for new applications, the regulations make provision for the transfer of responsibility for delivering carer benefits for individuals who are currently in receipt of Carer's Allowance in Scotland from DWP on behalf of Scottish Ministers to Social Security Scotland. They also make provision to transfer the awards of these individuals from Carer's Allowance to Carer Support Payment, a process known as ‘case transfer’.

5. The awards for these clients will transfer to Social Security Scotland once new applications for Carer Support Payment are available. Based on data provided by the DWP, there are around 120,000 individuals whose awards will transfer from Carer's Allowance to Carer Support Payment.

6. Part 1 of the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014^[3] places a duty on Scottish Minsters to consider the requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), take account of the relevant views of children of which they are aware and promote public awareness and understanding of the rights of children.

7. This Children’s Rights Impact Assessment (CRWIA) has considered the potential effects of Carer Support Payment and how it impacts on children under the age of 16 and who may be part of a caring household and children aged 16-18 who may wish to access financial support through Carer Support Payment as carers themselves, taking into consideration the interactions with Carer Support Payment and Young Carer Grant^[4].

8. The findings here are based on stakeholder engagement and feedback (including engagement with young carers themselves), desk-based research and analysis of the response to the Scottish Government’s consultation on the new benefit.

9. The CRWIA has identified some aspects of Carer Support Payment which could negatively impact on children, and these are outlined in the Key Findings section, however there is a requirement to balance this with not incentivising young carers to engage in substantive caring roles which could negatively impact their education. There is also a further consideration of the gap in entitlement between Carer Support Payment and Young Carer Grant for 19-year-olds studying non-advanced education, and for whom they will not have entitlement to either benefit and this is being further considered in line with changes to the education restriction.

10. It is not considered that any changes to Carer Support Payment policy should be made as a result of this assessment, as the evidence and data gathered indicate that overall, the policy will have a positive impact for children and young carers. It therefore builds on the framework of the 2018 Act of a new system that is underpinned by dignity, respect and a human rights-based approach.

11. However, the CRWIA has identified opportunities to monitor how well Carer Support Payment works in practice for children and young people and in particular young carers aged 16-19 studying non-advanced education, and for whom, eligibility has not been extended. We will undertake further focused engagement with stakeholders to monitor and evaluate Carer Support Payment and it’s impacts on children and young people.

Our public consultation, which ran from February to May 2022, proposed changes to eligibility criteria which could be made in future to improve this benefit^[5]. Prior to this a Multicriteria Analysis process^[6] was carried out when prioritising these changes. Any changes need to avoid creating a ‘two tier system’ which could disadvantage some carers. To avoid this, we do not plan to make eligibility changes until case transfer is complete.