Charity welcomes extra cash for carers

Carers Scotland today welcomed the introduction of the new Carers Allowance Supplement which will give carers receiving Carers Allowance an extra £442 a year.

The Carers Allowance Supplement is being introduced to meet the Scottish Government’s commitment to increase Carers Allowance to the level of Jobseekers Allowance.

Eligible carers will begin to receive letters about the supplement this week from the new Scottish agency, Social Security Scotland, with payments beginning to be made from 13 September and throughout the month.

Carer’s Allowance Supplement is an extra payment to help those who get Carer’s Allowance and is worth £221 every six months, equivalent to £8.50 per week. It is new income and cannot be taken off other social security benefits, tax credits, or council tax reduction.

Simon Hodgson, director of Carers Scotland said: “We welcome the introduction of this new support.

“We have, for many years, campaigned for Carers Allowance to be increased, highlighting the unfairness that carers, whose contribution saves the Scottish economy more than £10bn each year, receive the lowest income replacement benefit of all.”