Tag Archives: carers allowance

Caring doesn’t STOP at 67- so why should Carer’s Support Payment or Carer’s Allowance

My husband and I are not typical empty nesters. True, we have a daughter of 27 and a son of 23, but Archie has a learning disability and autism so he will never live independently. He requires constant attention and all our energy to manage his behaviour. Evenings and weekends are full on for us as he needs his exercise (usually swimming or a hike) meals, medication and bathing- none of which he can manage himself without support. We liken it to having a 23-year-old toddler Tigger bouncing about the house.

Now in our late fifties, with a wee bit more …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged , and | 3 Comments

Britain has privatised care into the family

At the heart of Britain’s care settlement lies a contradiction: unpaid carers are thanked for their work, while the growing responsibilities and stresses they face are ignored, with little to no reprieve.

Unpaid carers across the UK provide care worth approximately £184 billion a year, with more and more responsibilities absorbed by households, which increased by 29.3% between 2011 and 2022. Those same care responsibilities usually fall on one family member, with women aged 55-59 years old and living in the highest levels of poverty being most likely to provide unpaid care in Wales alone.

Public Health Wales

Posted in News | Also tagged | 8 Comments

The Jenkinsite case for fixing the Carer’s Allowance

Britain talks about family, community, and the dignity of work. But if you want to see what we truly value, look at how we treat carers.

Ed Davey has spoken about caring for his mother and caring for his disabled son today. That gives the Liberal Democrats credibility. Supporting carers is not a niche “nice-to-have”; it is the natural flagship for a liberal party that believes in dignity, family life, and a state that works.

Unpaid carers keep Britain afloat. They keep loved ones out of the hospital, stop social care from collapsing, and hold families together. Yet many live with exhaustion, paperwork, and the fear that one wrong payslip could trigger a demand for thousands in repayment.

A humane country does not punish people for taking responsibility.

A Jenkinsite approach is not nostalgia, but instead, a method: practical reform,
administrative competence, and compassion appropriately delivered. Carer’s Allowance is a test of whether the state can manage fundamental fairness.

Carer’s Allowance is £83.30 a week for those providing at least 35 hours of care to someone on a qualifying disability benefit. It rises to £86.45 from April 2026. Even then, it is a poor reward for work done under sustained pressure.

End the cliff-edge

Carers can earn up to £196 per week under the 2025/26 rules. Go even slightly over, and
you can lose the entire allowance. This is not a taper; it is a trap.

Posted in Op-eds | Leave a comment

13-14 September 2025 – the weekend’s press releases

  • Government proposals for carer’s allowance compensation would be “victory” for carers and campaigners
  • Mandelson appointment: Lib Dems call for independent investigation with access to documents and messages
  • Farage must come clean on who’s bankrolling his US trips to “badmouth Britain”
  • Greene: Scotland is lagging behind in research and development investment
  • Greene urges all parties to support key victims’ proposals ahead of final vote

Government proposals for carer’s allowance compensation would be “victory” for carers and campaigners

Responding to reports that the Government is considering compensation payments to those caught up in the carer’s allowance scandal, Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Leader, said:

I really hope the government will give the victims of this appalling scandal the compensation they deserve. It would be a milestone for carers across the country, and a victory for all those who have campaigned tirelessly for justice.

The government has a chance here not just to compensate the victims, but to overhaul carer’s allowance so it properly supports carers and doesn’t punish them for working. We will keep pushing ministers to seize that chance.

Mandelson appointment: Lib Dems call for independent investigation with access to documents and messages

The Liberal Democrats are calling for an independent inquiry into what was known about ex-US Ambassador Peter Mandelson’s friendship with Jeffrey Epstein at the time of his appointment, saying that victims must be “put first.”

The party’s Cabinet Office Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said an independent investigation is needed to uncover what was known, when and by whom regarding Mandelson’s connections to convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The Liberal Democrats are also calling for relevant text messages, WhatsApps and emails to be handed to the inquiry for proper independent scrutiny of how the appointment was made.

It comes as Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, claimed in an interview with Laura Kuennsberg this morning that “if we had known the information we know now, it is highly unlikely that would have been appointed”, calling the new information “materially different” from the content reviewed during vetting.

Sarah Olney, Cabinet Office Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, said:

The Government has serious questions to answer about what they knew when. The current explanations just don’t add up.

Number Ten must put the victims of Jeffrey Epstein first, not their own reputation. We need an urgent, independent inquiry into how details of Mandelson’s ties with a convicted paedophile slipped through the cracks of Government vetting.

This inquiry must be given access to all the relevant messages, texts and documents so it can get to the bottom of this appalling mess.

Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Also tagged , , , , , , , and | Leave a comment

25-27 October 2024 – the weekend’s press releases

  • Ed Davey: get rid of Carer’s Allowance cliff edge
  • Autumn Budget: NHS needs to be top priority to prevent winter crisis
  • Phillipson on Laura K: hospitals left to rot need funding for repairs
  • SNP ignore Parliament with hundreds of thousands of ‘Thatcherite’ P1 tests

Ed Davey: get rid of Carer’s Allowance cliff edge

Responding to news that the Government is set to increase the Carer’s Allowance threshold, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey MP said:

Raising the earnings limit for Carer’s Allowance would be a good step forward, but I hope the Government will go further and get rid of the cliff edge altogether.

We need a full review of Carer’s Allowance to end the repayments scandal and give carers the proper support they deserve.

Autumn Budget: NHS needs to be top priority to prevent winter crisis

Ahead of the Autumn Budget on Wednesday, the Liberal Democrats are calling for a rescue package for the NHS to prevent a winter crisis.

Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Years of neglect by the Conservative Government have left our health and care services at breaking point. Bringing our NHS and care back from the brink needs to be the number one priority in this Budget.

Our NHS is already bracing itself for this year’s winter crisis, on top of the continuing pressures of long waiting lists, crumbling hospitals and a care system in crisis.

It’s clear that a robust rescue package for the NHS is vital for economic growth – we simply cannot repair our economy without repairing our health services.

In the Budget this week, we Liberal Democrats want to see a new fund to break the cycle of the annual winter crises, meaningful investment to overhaul crumbling NHS infrastructure and outdated equipment and the launch of cross-party talks to finally put social care on a sustainable footing.

Phillipson on Laura K: hospitals left to rot need funding for repairs

Responding to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson announcing that the Government will commit to rebuilding crumbling schools during an interview with Laura Kuenssberg this morning, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

Posted in News, Press releases and Scotland | Also tagged , , , , , and | 1 Comment

16 May 2024 – today’s press releases

  • Mortgage repossession claims reach five-year high as families risk losing their homes to Conservative chaos
  • Carer’s Allowance report: Government cannot bury its head in the sand
  • Scottish Liberal Democrat conference to call on Swinney to ditch SNP’s takeover of social care
  • Welsh Lib Dems call for foster carer salary
  • Cole-Hamilton urges First Minister to tackle rural healthcare crisis

Mortgage repossession claims reach five-year high as families risk losing their homes to Conservative chaos

Mortgage possession claims have reached their highest level since 2019 as soaring mortgage rates since the mini budget hit homeowners, figures published by the Ministry of Justice today have revealed.

Mortgage possession claims occur when banks or lenders take homeowners to court before repossessing their home. The latest figures show there were 5,182 mortgage repossession claims in the first quarter of 2024, the highest number since 2019.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Treasury Spokesperson Sarah Olney MP said:

These deeply worrying figures show a steep rise in families at risk of losing their homes due to soaring mortgage rates.

This Conservative government crashed the economy with their disastrous mini budget and sent mortgage rates spiralling. But now Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt have failed to lift a finger to help those impacted by this Conservative chaos.

It is unforgivable and shows just how out of touch the Conservative Party is with people struggling to get by.

Carer’s Allowance report: Government cannot bury its head in the sand

Responding to a Government report on the experiences of those claiming and receiving Carer’s Allowance which said that there was ‘room for improvement’ in preventing overpayments, Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Thousands of carers are caught up in the overpayment scandal, and we’ve heard many heart-breaking stories about the fear and distress it is causing.

The Government cannot bury its head in the sand and pretend this is a minor issue. It is an outrageous national scandal and Ministers must act now: writing off old overpayments and reforming their flawed and failing system.

Posted in News, Press releases, Scotland and Wales | Also tagged , , , , , and | 1 Comment

Davey: Government is taking carers for granted again

Carers UK today release a report showing that one in five unpaid carers fear they may not be able to cope financially over the next 12 months.

And along with that, carers face increasing strains on their health and wellbeing.

From the report:

The COVID-19 pandemic has seen 81% of carers take on increasing hours of care, often with less or no outside support. This has had a significant and detrimental impact on carers’ health and wellbeing; over two-thirds of carers (69%) reported that their mental health has worsened, and 64% of carers said their physical health has got worse as a result of caring in the
pandemic. Our results confirm that the pandemic is continuing to have a
negative impact on carers’ own health and wellbeing and they are facing
additional health inequalities.

Ed Davey, himself a lifelong carer for parents, grandparents and now his disabled son responded to the report:

With the cost of living spiralling this winter these damning figures show the struggle that many unpaid carers face.

Posted in News | Also tagged , and | Leave a comment

20 March 2021 – the day’s press releases (part 1)

  • Small businesses must be at the heart of our recovery
  • Liberal Democrats champion a fairer deal for consumers
  • Liberal Democrats call for emergency £2.6bn carers support package
  • Small businesses must be at the heart of our recovery

    Liberal Democrats have passed a motion at their Spring Conference calling for a comprehensive package of support for small businesses and the self-employed, including:

  • Dedicated support schemes for the worst-affected sectors, such as hospitality, tourism, charities and the creative industries.
  • More support for businesses as we return to normal, by extending business rates relief, VAT reductions and tax deferrals.
Posted in News and Press releases | Also tagged , , , , and | Leave a comment

Campaign to stand up for carers

The party is running a campaign to increase the Carer’s Allowance by £1,000 a year:

During this terrible pandemic, our carers have been more important than ever. Yet carers are still often forgotten or ignored by those in power.

Back our campaign to stand up for carers – starting by raising the Carer’s Allowance by £1,000 a year 👇

Carers – paid and unpaid, young and old – do a remarkable and important job.

They deserve our support but are far too often forgotten and ignored. Liberal Democrats will stand up for carers and lead the way to a more caring society as

Posted in Campaign Corner | Also tagged | 2 Comments
Advert

Recent Comments

  • expats
    David Raw 23rd Jun '26 - 10:13am... David, If memory serves Trump's, "No Churchill..." remark was because of Starmer's refusal to join Trump's Iran war... ...
  • Peter Martin
    @ Tim, "Starmer failed to communicate the home truths that the country needs to be told" I think we'd all agree with this. We might disgree...
  • Peter Martin
    @ David, You're suggesting that Trump wanted rid of rid of Mandelson so made sure that the right Epstein related documents were disclosed? An interesting th...
  • David Raw
    @ Peter Martin. A further thought. Mandelson may have been appointed because his knowledge of Trump’s varied activities gave him a special hold over said Pres...
  • paul barker
    Is The UK Ungovernable ? No, its hysterical bollox & plays into the hands of The Far-Right....