Latest news with #CarersAllowance
Irish Independent
07-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
170 extra carers across Wicklow to qualify for allowance under new changes
In addition, it is expected that 5,280 carers across the country will receive an increase in their weekly payment because of the changes. A household earning up to €69,000 can now receive the full Carer's Allowance and even households earning up to €97,000 may qualify for a partial payment. Wicklow Wexford TD Brian Brennan believes the change will make a difference to families that are caring for their loved ones at home. 'Our carers play a vital role in our society and we need to support them. This is a welcome step, but we need to go further.' Also welcoming the news Wicklow TD Edward Timmins said the change announced in Budget 2025 is a positive step forward. 'There have been significant changes to the Carers Allowance means test in recent years with the income disregard increased by €292.50 for a single person and €585 for a 'The further increase in the income limits this week will mean that 99% of people receiving Carer's Allowance will now receive the maximum rate of payment. he added.
Scottish Sun
03-07-2025
- Business
- Scottish Sun
Thousands on benefits including Universal Credit are missing out on help with key bill
We share how you can apply for the support TO YOUR BENEFIT Thousands on benefits including Universal Credit are missing out on help with key bill Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THOUSANDS on benefits, including Universal Credit, are missing out on help with a key bill. Council tax is an annual fee you pay to your local council. The cost is set by your council and goes towards funding local services. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 1 We explain how you can help with your council tax bill if you claim Universal Credit Credit: Alamy That means the amount you pay varies depending on where you live. You usually have to pay the charge if you own or rent your home. But if you claim certain benefits, such as Universal Credit, you could be entitled to a discount on the amount you pay. The support is given out by local councils in England, so how much you get will depend on where you live, your income, dependants and other benefits. You can find out if you're eligible by visiting To use the tool, you will need to enter your postcode and it will redirect you to your local council's website where you can find out more. How much you get will also depend on what band you are in. The bands range from A to H, with A homes paying the least and H the most. For example, households in Leeds can apply for a Council Tax Support if they claim Universal Credit or Carers Allowance. In Manchester, you can claim council tax support when you apply for Universal Credit. Disability benefit explained - what you can claim If you are already receiving council tax support but are due to be moved across to Universal Credit it is important to tell the council. The government is in the process of moving people on older benefits, like tax credits and income-based ESA, to the newer Universal Credit system. You may have received a migration notice in the form of a letter. As soon as you get this, write to your local council to ensure your support continues. Charities such as Shelter have information online about how to structure the letter. You can find out more by visiting, What other Council Tax Support is available? If you're not receiving benefits or don't qualify for your local authority's low-income council tax support scheme, you may still be eligible for help. Pensioners may also be able to get a council tax discount if they receive certain benefits. Those on the guarantee credit element of pension credit could get up to 100% off their bill. If you do not get guaranteed credit but have a low income and less than £16,000 in savings then you may still get some help. Meanwhile, if you are a pensioner who lives alone then you will qualify for a 25% discount. Elsewhere, you could get a 25% council tax reduction if you live on your own or if others at home are classed as "disregarded". For example, if a single adult lives with a severely mentally impaired person then they can get 25% off their council tax. Meanwhile, if you live in an all-student household then you do not need to pay any council tax.
The Irish Sun
01-07-2025
- Business
- The Irish Sun
Thousands of Irish qualify for €447 social welfare cash & MORE eligible for ‘maximum rate' in major new scheme expansion
THOUSANDS more Irish people will qualify for a weekly social welfare payment worth up to €447 following a change to the eligibility rules. And the major Advertisement 1 More people will qualify for the Carer's Allowance payment under the new expansion of the scheme Credit: Getty Images - Getty The weekly income disregard for the This means the first €625 of a single person's weekly income and €900 of a couple's weekly income will not be taken into account when applying for the means-tested payment. The reform to the income disregard is expected to take effect from Thursday. Cash income, capital and maintenance payments are all assessed by the Department of Social Protection as part of the means test. Advertisement READ MORE IN MONEY However, the changes to the means test, which will take effect this week, means a person will still be able to qualify for the payment even if they are earning over €450 from other income each week. And the move means that a whopping 99 per cent of people receiving Carer's Allowance maximum weekly payment is €260 for a carer aged under 66 that is caring for one person, and €390 for a person aged under 66 that is caring for two or more people. Carer's aged 66 or over who are caring for one person can receive a maximum payment of €298 each week while those who are caring for two people or more and are aged under 66 can claim €447. Advertisement MOST READ ON THE IRISH SUN Breaking Little known social welfare benefits thousands are entitled to In addition to this, it is expected that many more carers will now qualify for the payment for the first time under the higher income limits. Deputy O'Shea described the move announced in Budget 2025, as a "positive change", but said the government "needs to go further". He said: "There have been significant changes to the Carers Allowance means test in recent years with the income disregard increased by €292.50 for a single person and €585 for a couple since 2022. Advertisement 'It has been confirmed to me that the further increase in the income limits this week will mean that 99 per cent of people receiving Carer's Allowance will now receive the maximum rate of payment. 'In addition, these changes will mean that many more carers who were previously outside the income limits will now qualify for a payment. STILL TIME TO APPLY FOR €2,000 BOOST THE Carer's Support Grant increased to €2,000 - its highest level ever - last month. The non taxable and non means tested payment had been €1,850 in previous years, but was upped by €150 for 2025. The payment was given to those already receiving the Carer's Allowance, Carer's Benefit and the Domiciliary Care Allowance. Those who believe they may You can apply for a Carer's Support Grant for any given year from April of that year until 31 December of the following year. This means you can 'Our carers play a vital role in our society and we need to support them. This is a welcome step, but we need to go further. "The Programme for Government commits to phasing out the means test entirely during the lifetime of this Government." Advertisement O'Shea called on Minister for Social Protection Dara Calleary to build on the "strong work" in this area in recent years and outline a road map for phasing out the means test altogether. She said: "This is not the final step, but real progress towards Fianna Fáil's commitment to abolish the means test for Carer's Allowance. "I look forward to working closely with the Minister to continue strengthening support for our careers in the future." Advertisement Minister Calleary said: "The Programme for Government is ambitious for carers. Importantly, we will continue to significantly increase the income disregards for Carer's Allowance in each Budget with a view to phasing out the means test during the lifetime of the government."
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DWP has new 13-week rule for people on PIP and Universal Credit
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced a new 13-week rule for people on Personal Independence Payment (PIP) as part of its massive benefits cuts. The DWP confirmed the Bill this week, with £5 billion worth of savings expected from it. But despite cuts, the DWP offered people on PIP somewhat of a boost via a 13-week transitional phase which has been introduced before stopping payments. It offers additional time for those affected by changes to the PIP daily living component. Ir is set to benefit current recipients who may lose their entitlement to Carers Allowance and the carer's element of Universal Credit due to the amendments. READ MORE: NS&I handing 'bonus' to millions of people who have Premium Bonds READ MORE: DWP told to scrap 'unsustainable' state pension triple lock and replace it READ MORE New UK heatwave set to hit next week with 22 counties in England roasted The transitional protection significantly exceeds the duration offered during the transition from Disability Living Allowance (DLA) to PIP, which was previously the primary disability benefit in the UK before PIP took over. Labour Party minister Liz Kendall said: "Our social security system is at a crossroads. Unless we reform it, more people will be denied opportunities, and it may not be there for those who need it. "This legislation represents a new social contract and marks the moment we take the road of compassion, opportunity and dignity. "This will give people peace of mind, while also fixing our broken social security system so it supports those who can work to do so while protecting those who cannot - putting welfare spending on a more sustainable path to unlock growth as part of our Plan for Change." Thomas Lawson, CEO of anti-poverty charity Turn2us, said: "There is no moral justification for cutting the support that allows sick and disabled people to meet their basic needs, live independently, and fully take part in society. "The positive plans of the government's longer-term reforms are being undermined by these harmful Treasury-driven cuts. Stripping away support will push people deeper into hardship, not employment. It will worsen health conditions, and make recovery harder."
The National
19-06-2025
- Politics
- The National
Scottish Labour is a fiction, nothing more than a branding
The SNP have urged Anas Sarwar to whip Labour's Scottish MPs to vote against the Government's planned benefits cuts, which the British Government's own analysis estimates will push 250,000 disabled and chronically ill people into poverty, including 50,000 children. However, disability rights campaign group Disability Rights UK, anti-poverty charity and think tank Trussel, and economics think tank WPI Economics all calculate that the Government's analysis significantly underestimates the number of disabled people who will be pushed into poverty as a consequence of these cuts. They believe that the true number is in excess of 400,000. Thousands of disabled people are expected to lose their entitlement to Personal Independence Payment (PIP), the main benefit for disabled people in England and Wales, under Labour's plan to change the eligibility criteria for the benefit. The plan will introduce a new eligibility requirement which will mean that only those who score a minimum of four points in at least one activity will be eligible for the daily living component of PIP. To be eligible for PIP, claimants must score a minimum of eight points assessed on the help they need across a range of daily living activities such as food preparation, bathing and showering, toileting, dressing, eating, and taking medication. Many people make up the eight points by scoring one or two across different categories, but under the new plans only those scoring four in one category will be eligible. If a claimant does not score four in a single category, the points they score in other categories will be discounted. Note that this change does nothing to help disabled people into work, the stated aim of the Government's cuts; it merely reclassifies disabled people as no longer being disabled for the purposes of eligibility for PIP. The needs of disabled people remain the same. (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA) One of the more pernicious effects of this change follows from the fact that PIP is a so-called passport benefit – eligibility for other benefits depends on eligibility for PIP. Carers Allowance is paid to those who care for a disabled person in receipt of PIP, or Attendance Allowance, its equivalent for retired people. If the disabled person loses their eligibility for PIP, eligibility for Carer's Allowance is lost too. Far from providing an incentive to the disabled person to find work, this will make it far more difficult for them to cope with daily living and far more difficult to get into work. Disability campaigners have warned that the cuts will not save the Government money as they will simply force disabled people, whose very real needs remain unchanged, to turn to other services such as the already over-stretched NHS and adult social services. Any politician with a social conscience or a basic understanding of disability should vigorously oppose these harmful and damaging cuts, but with the honourable exception of Alloa and Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman, Labour's Scottish contingent in Westminster are a supine bunch of careerists whose contribution to Commons debates consists of attacking the Scottish Government on devolved issues. Of course Anas Sarwar, the nominal leader of the Labour party in Scotland, should instruct Labour's Scottish MPs to vote against these cruel and counterproductive cuts, but he won't, because he too is a supine careerist, installed in his current job by the right wing of the Labour party precisely because he'd do Keir Starmer's bidding. Sarwar defends the cuts, because he believes what Starmer tells him to believe. But even if Sarwar finds a backbone and opposes the cuts, he has no authority over Labour's Scottish MPs in Westminster and no means of enforcing how they vote in the Commons. "Scottish Labour" is a political fiction, nothing more than a branding exercise. Labour MPs elected in Scotland are subject to the UK Labour whip. They do not constitute a cohesive voting bloc in the Commons. They are part and parcel of the UK Parliamentary Labour Party. Anas Sarwar couldn't whip up a cream cake, never mind Labour's Scottish MPs. At First Minister's Questions today, John Swinney tore into Sarwar's attacks on him as "the performance of a weak man" after asking two rather desultory questions about Alexander Dennis moving bus production to England and suggesting that Swinney's leadership was under threat. Sarwar accused Swinney of pressing the "big panic independence button" to "save his skin", after the First Minister made a speech on his desire for self-determination this week. (Image: Andrew Milligan) Swinney retorted: "Isn't it interesting that Mr Sarwar's interest in the workers of Alexander Dennis lasted two questions and then he gets on to his usual posturing in this Parliament of little substance that is before us. Israel discovers war crimes Meanwhile, Israel has suddenly discovered that launching missiles into hospitals is a war crime after an Iranian missile struck a hospital in the southern Israeli city of Be'er Sheva. Iranian state media has claimed that the missile targeted a military site next to the hospital and not the medical facility itself. Israel's deputy foreign affairs minister Sharren Haskel has called Iran's strike on the hospital "deliberate" and "criminal", while the Israeli health minister Uriel Buso said it was a war crime. But apparently, it's perfectly fine for Israel to bomb hospitals in Gaza on the supposed grounds that they are targeting Hamas operations in or near the hospital.
