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Carers

Heavens above! Thank you very much. The hon. Member for Leeds, North-West (Greg Mulholland) rightly took a moment to congratulate the Committee and himself on the work that they have done. The earnings limit has risen considerably, although one must take a decision about balancing the complexities of a taper and what is admittedly a crude system at the moment. I am grateful to hon. Members for introducing this debate and for their hard work. They can be assured that the Government are very committed to this issue, as we have set out in our strategy, and I am grateful for the support that hon. Members have given to that work. I look forward to working with the Committee, and I am pleased that its members are champions. It is my job to listen to the Committee so that I can take forward its concerns. We all want to ensure a better quality of life for the 4 million carers who do such sterling work. We have made good progress already, but of course more remains to be done.