Question reference: S6W-20466
- Asked by: Collette Stevenson, MSP for East Kilbride, Scottish National Party
- Date lodged: 7 August 2023
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Current status: Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville on 22 August 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, in relation to the Carer's Allowance Supplement, how many carers (a) it estimates will receive a payment in the current financial year and (b) received a payment in financial year 2022-23, and what the annual value is of these payments, broken down by local authority area.
Answer
The Scottish Fiscal Commission publish forecasts of the number of people receiving payments and spending for Carer’s Allowance Supplement. The latest published forecasts show the estimated spending for Carer’s Allowance Supplement for 2023-24 is £49 million with an estimated 91,000 people receiving payments.
The Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts at May 2023 can be found at: Scotland’s Economic and Fiscal Forecasts – May 2023 – Scottish Fiscal Commission
To note, payments are made twice a year and while most people will receive two payments there may be some people only eligible at one of the payment windows.
Social Security Scotland publish statistics for total number of carers eligible for Carer’s Allowance Supplement in each financial year by local authority area, as well as the value of payments at each eligibility date by local authority area.
The latest official statistics for Carer’s Allowance Supplement can be found at: Social Security Scotland - Summary statistics for Carer's Allowance Supplement to April eligibility date 2023
The latest statistics show in total 94,460 carers received a payment in the financial year 2022-23, with a value of payments of £42.7 million.