Carers Allowance Supplement - Underlying entitlement: FOI release

Information requested

1. Could you please explain why Social Security Scotland has chosen not to include those carers who are on Pension Credit with an underlying entitlement to Carer's Allowance in the Carer's Allowance Supplement programme? Additionally, could you provide copies of all communications related to this topic within Social Security Scotland and between Social Security Scotland and external agencies?
2. Has the Scottish Government or Social Security Scotland made a decision that those over the age of 66 do not require the Carer's Allowance Supplement? If so, could you please provide copies of all related communications within Social Security Scotland and between Social Security Scotland and external agencies?
3. If Social Security Scotland is facing any issues with obtaining data from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) regarding individuals in Scotland with an underlying entitlement to Carer's Allowance, could you please provide copies of all communications between Social Security Scotland and the DWP on this topic?
4. Lastly, could you please provide information on the number of individuals in Scotland who are in the position of having an underlying entitlement to Carer's Allowance but are no longer entitled to receive payment due to reaching the age of 66?

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the costs of locating, retrieving and providing the information requested would exceed the upper cost limit of £600. This is due to the scope of the request and the number of documents exceeding the cost limit.

Under section 12 of FOISA public authorities are not required to comply with a request for information if the authority estimates that the cost of complying would exceed the upper cost limit, which is currently set at £600, by Regulations made under section 12. You may, however, wish to consider reducing the scope of your request in order that the costs can be brought below £600. I would advise the best way to bring the request within scope would be to specify or reduce the timeframe that you want the information for. You may also find it helpful to look at the Scottish Information Commissioner's 'Tips for requesting information under FOI and the EIRs' on his website.

With this being said, information relating to your fourth question is publicly available and we are therefore able to provide this. Information on the number of people with only an underlying entitlement to Carer's Allowance is published on StatXplore by the Department for Work and Pensions. This shows that in August 2022, there were 32,773 people aged 66 or older with only an underlying entitlement to Carer's Allowance in Scotland. Carers can still receive Carer's Allowance Supplement if they are aged 66 or older – whether they receive Carer's Allowance Supplement will depend on the other benefits they receive, known as "overlapping benefits".

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.