Chamber and committees

I had a few other questions, convener, but they were about the role of other organisations, and Fiona Collie has covered that.

I thank our witnesses for their submissions, which have been very helpful. I will cover the theme of how to promote better take-up of carers allowance supplement.

You will all be aware that some carers are in receipt of universal credit. The full amount of any carers allowance that they receive is deducted pound for pound from their universal credit. It seems that because of that, some carers do not claim carers allowance, because they do not believe that they will gain financially from it. That perception is wrong, because in Scotland being in receipt of carers allowance means that you can also get carers allowance supplement. Are you aware of carers who have been deterred from claiming carers allowance supplement because of that perception? Can you comment on what you have done to tackle that perception? Is there a role for carers organisations in promoting take-up?

Good morning, minister. You will be aware that carers allowance pays the lowest amount of all the benefits that the DWP defines as earnings replacement benefits. For example, the personal allowance in jobseekers allowance is higher than carers allowance and the jobseekers allowance rate is different from the one that is used to calculate the level of carers allowance supplement.

Is the policy intention for CAS about topping up the amount received by low-income carers to the level of jobseekers allowance, or is it to give the CAS payment to all carers in Scotland who are on DWP earnings replacement benefits? You will be aware that a lot of carers have an underlying entitlement to CAS. What are the main barriers to CAS payments being made to those carers?

Aligning the carers allowance supplement with receipt of the DWP benefit, carers allowance, brings a lot of challenges, as you know. Getting usable information from the DWP on underlying entitlement to carers allowance is difficult. I note that the Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership’s submission to the consultation suggested that council tax reduction data could perhaps be used to identify low-income carers without relying on the DWP. Is that something that your officials have considered?

I have no interests to declare.