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Written question asked by Stephen O'Brien (Conservative) on Thursday, 18 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 March 2010. It was answered by Jonathan Shaw (Labour) on Tuesday, 30 March 2010 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Carer's Allowance

Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals stopped receiving carer's allowance due to taking up employment through which they earned more than £95 per week in each of the last five years.
Answer

I have been asked to reply.We are committed to helping carers combine their caring role with paid employment wherever possible, as this can alleviate some of the negative financial effects that carers have to contend with. This is why we have made available up to £38 million to help carers enter or re-enter the employment market.The White Paper—'Building Britain's Recovery: Achieving Full Employment'—announced an increase in the carer's allowance earnings limit from £95 to £100 with effect from April 2010. Many carers want to combine caring with paid employment. This increase will ensure that the real value of the earnings limit is maintained.The information requested is in the table.

Numbers of carer's allowance cases where entitlement has stopped due to exceeding the carer's allowance earnings limit
Number of cases where entitlement has ceased Caseload Percentage of total caseload
2005-2006 10,300 765,618 1.3
2006-2007 9,960 813,355 1.2
2007-2008 9,630 858,961 1.1
2008-2009 9,540 913,306 1.0
Notes:
1. Caseload figures for 2005/06 to 2008/09 are year end figures (March).
2. The figures are at one decimal point, in order to show the difference year on year, because if the figures are rounded to a whole figure they will all be 1 per cent.
3. The numbers represent the number of cases where carer's allowance entitlement has been terminated because the customer's earnings, after allowable expenses had been deducted, exceeded the carer's allowance earnings limit.
Source:
Department for Work and Pensions - Carer's Allowance Quarterly Management Information Statistics

The carer's allowance earnings limit has changed during the period covered by the above figures. The earnings limit was as follows in the periods shown in the following table.

Period Carer's allowance earnings limit (£)
11 April 2005 to 9 April 2006 82
10 April 2006 to 8 April 2007 84
9 April 2007 to 30 September 2007 87
1 October 2007 to 11 April 2010 95

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
508 c897W; 323898
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Carer's allowance
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk