Current status: Answered by Margaret Burgess on 19 June 2015
To ask the Scottish Government what information it has on how many carers in Scotland will lose their entitlement to carers allowance because of the change from disability living allowance to personal independence payments.
<>The Scottish Government published Financial Impacts of Welfare Reform on Disabled People in Scotland on 8 August 2014. In this we estimated that by 2015 there would be a net reduction in caseload of carers allowance claimants of around 450, each of whom would lose over £3,000 per year, in Scotland as a result of the move from disability living allowance to personal independence payment (PIP).
However, this estimate was based on a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) impact assessment which was published in 2013, at the start of the PIP implementation. Since then, the rollout has been subject to delays and so we do not have a clear position as to the real impact on carers in Scotland.
We continue to push DWP for clarity on the matter and are also calling for the UK Government to transfer the full budget for those benefits to be fully devolved, before the cuts take effect.