The following was submitted to BBC Questiontime for tonights programme.
Question for Iain Duncan Smith.
The Secretary of State is leading the biggest shake up of welfare reform in over 60 yrs. Yet there is a group of people he has overlooked and that is family carers. Their Carers Allowance remains at £55.55 per week and one of the conditions is they provide care for a MINIMUM of 35 hours.
Can Iain Duncan Smith give details tonight of, not if he will increase the carers allowance, but WHEN.
In the report Breakthrough Britain,of which IDS played a major part it states –
“”Family carers are undervalued in our society and receive a disproportionately low level of financial support given the many hours of work that they do“”
We cannot and must not allow this opportunity to fully reform Carers Allowance to pass us by.
Carers are used to words of praise but it is NOT enough. No matter how much understanding the Coalition say it has, no matter how many times they say Thank you, it is NOT enough.
Carers need action and they need it now
Tags: iain duncan smith
27 October 2011 at 19:53 |
If the question gets asked, could someone please Youtube the clip of it for ne to post at Same Difference? Thanks…
27 October 2011 at 19:54 |
I don’t like the expression “family carers” much. Lots of carers are friends, lovers even, but dont identify themselves as “family”. Lets not pander to Conservative family values, shall we?
28 October 2011 at 10:07 |
Would they consider the earnings threshold before being able to claim it too? I earn just over the limit so am unable to claim it. I only work part time but this bit of independance is so valuable for my own well being. The rest of my time is spent caring for my son as a single parent.