Carer's Allowance
Work and Pensions
Jennifer Willott (Cardiff Central, Liberal Democrat)
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of an annual increase in carer's allowance of (a) £3, (b) £4, (c) £5, (d) £6, (e) £7, (f) £8, (g) £9 and (h) £10 a week in each of the next six years.
Jonathan R Shaw (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Disabled People; Minister for the South East), Department for Work and Pensions; Chatham and Aylesford, Labour)
The estimated additional annual cost of increasing carer's allowance by the specified amounts is shown in the following table. The increase in carer's allowance is represented as a cash amount in the given years. The costs are given in nominal terms.
| Estimated additi onal annual cost of increasing c a rer's a llowance | ||||||
| £ million | ||||||
| Increase in carer's a llowance amount | 2009-1 0 | 2010- 11 | 2011- 12 | 2012- 13 | 2013- 14 | 2014- 15 |
| £3 | 40 | 42 | 44 | 45 | 47 | 48 |
| £4 | 54 | 56 | 58 | 60 | 62 | 64 |
| £5 | 67 | 70 | 73 | 75 | 78 | 80 |
| £6 | 80 | 84 | 87 | 90 | 93 | 96 |
| £7 | 94 | 98 | 102 | 105 | 109 | 113 |
| £8 | 107 | 111 | 116 | 120 | 125 | 129 |
| £9 | 121 | 125 | 131 | 135 | 140 | 145 |
| £10 | 134 | 139 | 145 | 151 | 156 | 161 |
These figures represent the best estimate we can provide given the limitations of the data. However, they are likely to under estimate the total costs. This is because they do not include any costs for carer's allowance recipients who are in a household where a member receives an income-related benefit, as we are unable to estimate the costs of increasing carer's allowance for this group.