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Peter Black and South Wales West Liberal DemocratsRepresenting Aberavon, Bridgend, Gower, Neath, Ogmore, Port Talbot, and Swansea |
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Time for changes to help carers says Assembly Member
August 30, 2009 12:00 AM
Welsh Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson, Peter Black has called for changes to the benefit system to aid carers in Wales and throughout the UK.
Mr. Black was responding to the conclusions of a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) which highlighted some of the ways in which many carers are disadvantaged when applying for Carers Allowance, and also identified some of the ways that the system prevents carers who want to combine their caring responsibilities with doing paid work.
Mr. Black said: -
"Carers in Wales and throughout the UK do a job which would cost the taxpayer around £87 billion a year to replace. They do it out of love and a sense of personal responsibility; not for the money. But governments and society as a whole should not take advantage of that when it comes to helping carers to get what they are entitled to by right from the benefit system. Neither should it be the case that needless restrictions are placed upon carers who want to combine their caring responsibilities with some paid work.
"Carer's Allowance can be as low as £53.10 a week, and it is not surprising that some carers are eager to supplement that with part-time work where their caring responsibilities allow. Not only that, but keeping in touch with the world of work is of obvious benefit in keeping their skills up to date and making it easier to return to full-time employment should their caring responsibilities come to an end.
"Yet the system doesn't help. The NAO discovered that one in five carers had problems applying for Carer's Allowance because of the difficulty of both understanding the forms and of filling them in correctly. Seven out of ten carers who contacted their local Jobcentre Plus in the 12 months to February 2009 to look for work said that they though the services provided were not well-suited to their needs. As finding people part-time work doesn't count towards Jobcentre Plus targets there is no incentive for advisers to help carers get a part-time job.
"All these things are simple and cheap to sort out. The forms should be redesigned so that they are easy to understand and complete. Jobcentre Plus staff should be better trained in order to help carers looking for paid work; and their targets should be changed so that advisers get the credit they deserve for helping a carer to find a part-time job.
"Carers do the lion's share of looking after our sick, disabled, and elderly fellow-citizens. The government should make it easier for them to do so by changing its systems rather than expecting carers to cope."
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