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Carers

That point is recognition of how difficult the problems are. When the Government announced last year's carers' strategy, which was a good document that included extra money for carers, they did not mention benefits because that is a complex issue. We have been muddling along with the same benefits system for a long time. Do the Government want to do something radical? Do carers want us to do something radical? Carers are happy with the existing system so there is a challenge for us all, including carers and their representatives, to look at how the system can be improved. As a distinguished member of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald) is aware that we had a lot of evidence to support our recommendation of a two-tier benefit. We certainly had a lot of evidence to support increasing the benefit because of the financial pressures on carers. I will say a few words about carers who work. When we talk about carers, the assumption is that most carers stay at home and look after the cared-for person. In fact, many carers are in work. The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers provided some good evidence on the experiences of its members. The £95 a week limit causes problems because Jobcentre Plus regularly contacts the union's members whose wages are approaching £95 to ensure that they have not reached that level. Its members have to submit proof of their earnings. If their wages increase, perhaps after being on the minimum wage, they may lose their carer's allowance. There are different earnings rules for carers claiming carer's allowance and those claiming other means-tested benefits, which causes confusion. There are also obstacles to carers engaging in voluntary work. The hon. Member for Henley (John Howell) mentioned the responsiveness of Jobcentre Plus staff. Those staff have a difficult job. We expect them to know about and be sympathetic to everything about every individual who goes to see them. It is not always easy to recognise that somebody is a carer, especially if the person does not say, ““I am a carer.”” We know that people do not always say that. The report mentions the importance of training for Jobcentre Plus staff so that they respond appropriately to the needs of those with current caring responsibilities and those who want to sign on for employment because their caring responsibilities have finished. Jobcentre Plus staff should be aware that such individuals may have been out of the job market for a long time and not have the skills, education or confidence to enter the world of work. Staff should ask why people have been out of the job market for a long time and whether they have had caring responsibilities so that they can better respond to the needs of those who have been carers but are no longer. The report commented on the social care system. That area is not the Minister's responsibility, but we included those comments because the social care system cannot be divorced from benefits and work issues. He must work with colleagues in other Departments, especially those with responsibility for health and social care, to produce comprehensive packages. Good things are happening in the realm of social care such as the development of individual budgets, direct payments and the personalisation of services for people with disabilities. Carers should be part of that. Where money goes in, the social care sector is changing, as are the services available for people with disabilities and elderly people. Those changes will impact on the evidence that the Select Committee received on issues such as care vouchers. Some employers give their staff vouchers so that employees who are carers can purchase social care support. That benefits the worker and the employer. Those developments are taking place at the same time as the move in social care away from providing services directly to social care recipients to giving them the money to buy their own care. On the one hand, social care vouchers are suggested; on the other, there is an entirely different mechanism for providing social care.