Kinship carers ‘must not face cuts’

Benefits should not be deducted from people who are paid to look after their relatives, according to a Holyrood committee.
Kinship carers, those who look after relatives such as grandchildren when parents are unable to care for them, will be entitled to council support through the Children and Young People Bill currently under consideration at Holyrood.

But it is unclear whether this support will be regarded as income by benefits agencies, Holyrood’s Education and Culture Committee warned.

The Scottish Government should work with the UK Government, which has reserved power over benefits, to clarify what kinship carers will be entitled to, the committee said in its stage one report on the Bill.

“We invite the Scottish Government to provide details of the action it is taking to ensure that payments under the kinship care order will be disregarded as income in terms of the benefits system,” the committee report said.

“We would be concerned if such support was not disregarded in this way and urge the Scottish Government to work closely with the relevant UK Government departments on the development of the regulations under this part, to ensure clarity about what kinship carers can and cannot expect to receive.”

The Department of Work and Pensions told the committee that the new kinship care payments may be considered as income if they are “significantly more generous or for a different purpose”.

HM Revenue and Customs called for more detail on the proposals before coming to a final view.

The committee has requested more detail on other aspects of the Bill, including proposals to appoint a state guardian to every child in Scotland. The committee members support the “named person” proposals, with the exception of Conservative MSP Liz Smith.

Committee convener Stewart Maxwell said: “Our recent work in examining issues to do with children in care has informed our scrutiny of many of the issues included in the Bill. Whilst we welcome the Bill, we make a number of suggestions that we think will contribute to the central aim of improving outcomes for children and young people.

“We heard from Highland Council on the positive differences for children that have been brought about by Getting It Right for Every Child (Girfec). We want to see Girfec implemented consistently across Scotland so that more children and young people can benefit. However, this will not be without challenges, not least to replicate the positive culture of collaboration across frontline services that exists in Highland.

“Increasing the number of early-learning and childcare hours is also welcomed, as are the measures in relation to kinship carers.

“We ask the Scottish Government and Cosla to ensure that the additional nursery hours are offered flexibly as quickly as possible to enable families to take advantage of the new provision.

“We would also ask the Scottish Government to work closely with the relevant UK Government departments to ensure there is clarity about the support for kinship carers to ensure that this will not be offset by reductions in welfare benefits.”