I appreciate Claudia Beamish’s point, but I refer her to my original answer. Because of the overlapping benefit rule for which the Department for Work and Pensions retains responsibility under the devolution set-up, if we were to pay carers assistance to pensioners, the DWP could see it as an overlapping benefit and so reduce the benefit entitlements in other areas, thereby leaving the carer no better off.

I am thoroughly committed to making changes to the carers allowance and to social security payments when there is a clear case to do so, but we need to do that in full recognition of the complex interactions that exist, in particular with the reserved benefits system, which we cannot control. We cannot make any changes without that understanding of the interactions and the work that we must undertake jointly with the DWP to work through them.