Government respond to 'Caring Is Work' petition

[fiorelli]

You remember the petition on the number10 website we all signed with regards to the possibility of all those on Income support and Carer's Allowance being moved onto Jobseekers Allowance? Well, here is the official government response...

 

We have listened to those who took the time to send responses to our proposals in the Green Paper ?No one written off?. In the recently published White Paper ?Raising expectations and increasing support: reforming welfare for the future? we stated that we will not move existing groups from Income Support (IS) to a modified Jobseeker?s Allowance (JSA) until we have a clear and detailed plan setting out how we will reform the benefit system over the longer term. We will though take powers that enable the abolition of IS at a later date.

 

The proposal in ?No one written off? was to abolish IS, when resources allow, and move existing customers who do not migrate to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) to JSA. The main groups affected by this proposed move would be lone parents with a child under the age of 7 and carers.

 

Recognising that these groups have responsibilities that take priority over job seeking, the proposal was to modify JSA so as to mirror the level of conditionality that is currently applied within IS. As benefit rates are also identical in JSA, the only actual change for both groups would be the name of their benefit.

 

Throughout the consultation period we received many responses from carers and their representatives opposing any move to JSA. Some of these were based on a misunderstanding of the proposal: some people thought we intended to move carers from Carer?s Allowance, which is not the case, whilst others thought they would be subject to the full job seeking requirements of JSA. A common thread running through the majority of responses was that the name of JSA itself was an insult to carers and suggested that their caring role is not work.

 

We recognise the important contribution that carers make to society and respect the work that they do. Moving to a modified JSA was not intended to suggest that caring is not work. The needs of carers will be central to our consideration of the future reform of the benefits system. We will ensure that proposals for a future system of support make appropriate provision for carers and fit well with the outcome of the Department of Health review of the care and support system.

 

http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page18179