Lib Dems announce plans to increase Carer’s Allowance as Ed Davey says fixing care will be at heart of party’s manifesto

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The Liberal Democrats have today announced their manifesto will include a major boost for unpaid carers, including a significant increase to the Carer’s Allowance.

It comes after Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey opened up about his own experience as a carer for his severely disabled son John and caring for his mother as a child when she fell ill with cancer, in a party election broadcast this week.

The Liberal Democrats would immediately increase the Carer’s Allowance by £20 a week, from £81.90 to £101.90. This would give a boost of £1,040 a year to family carers. 

Ed Davey accused the government of having “shamefully hounded” unpaid carers to give back overpayments, as he called for an amnesty and a new earnings taper that would prevent people over claiming Carer’s Allowance in future.

Under the Liberal Democrat proposals, the earnings allowance to be eligible for the Carer’s Allowance would be increased to £183 a week, a significant increase on the current £151. Payments would then be tapered away above this allowance, to remove the current cliff-edge that has seen many family carers threatened with prosecution by the government and forced to repay sums of money.

The Liberal Democrat proposals to expand and fix the Carer’s Allowance system would cost £1.4 billion per year. An estimated 1.3 million eligible unpaid carers in England and Wales would benefit from the party’s reforms.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

“Caring is why I got into politics. It isn’t just my story, it is the story of millions of family carers around the country working hard to look after their loved ones.

“For too long carers have been treated as an afterthought by this Conservative government. Thousands of carers are being shamefully hounded in the overpayments scandal, all because of the unfair cliff-edge for Carer’s Allowance and the DWP’s incompetence.

“The Liberal Democrats will fight for carers every day. Every vote for the Liberal Democrats is a vote to fix the care crisis and give family carers a fair deal.”

ENDS

Notes

As reported in The Guardian