Financial help for carers urged

8:41am Friday 29th August 2008

The benefits system for unpaid carers is outdated and the Government should provide extra financial help to support them, MPs said.

The Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee said people who care for relatives and friends saved the taxpayer an estimated £87 billion every year.

Their support was of "critical importance" to the Government and they should receive more assistance, the committee said.

Its latest report, Valuing and Supporting Carers, recommends income replacement for those who have to work part-time or are unable to work because of their commitments, and compensation for the extra costs incurred from providing "intensive" caring roles.

The MPs say they are "disappointed" the Government had not directly addressed financial help for carers in its Carers Strategy and that the group were only identified as a long-term priority from 2011.

Carers struggled to remain in work because of a lack of affordable, reliable and flexible care services and they often suffered "opportunity penalties", finding their vocational skills became rusty and out of date.

The committee's report said: "We believe that the current system of benefits for carers is outdated and we recommend the introduction of two distinctive 'tiers' of support for carers, offering income replacement support for carers unable to work, or working only part-time, and compensation for the additional costs of caring for all carers in intensive caring roles."

They continued: "We believe that the Department for Work and Pensions should support adults who become carers during their working lives to combine work and care and enable those who wish to return to paid work when caring ends or changes to do so."

Labour MP Terry Rooney, who chairs the committee, said: "Caring matters deeply to individuals, families and society in general. Sustaining the ability of carers to provide the care and support they give to others is of critical importance.

He added: "DWP needs to provide adequate financial support for those who provide care when of working age, either by compensating them for the extra costs of caring, or, if they need to give up work to care, through adequate income replacement and pension protection mechanisms."

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