Carer’s allowance ‘not enough and it’s hard to claim’

Peter Harwood, chairman of the support group, said that there were issues about the level of allowance paid by the States and how easy it is to claim.

He described the carers’ allowance, currently £91.90 a week, as ‘derisory’ and said it failed to reflect the increasing costs of living.

One local carer said there were other issues, particularly for those who had to give up work to look after a partner before retirement age.

‘Most carers work 24/7, even though we aren’t technically employed,’ said Alvina Tostevin, who looks after her husband Nick, who was diagnosed with frontal lobe dementia four years ago.

‘It’s not our fault that we have to care.’

Carer’s allowance is the main carer’s benefit and can be claimed by those over 18 who are caring for someone who is severely disabled.

The weekly rate in Guernsey is £91.90, which equates to £2.63 an hour for a 35-hour week.

‘There’s quite a high hurdle even to qualify because the person that they’re caring for has to qualify for a severe disability allowance,’ said Mr Harwood.

‘And then the carer then has to prove that they’re providing care for over 35 hours a week.

‘So I think the telling statistic is that we reckon there are between 4,000-6,000 carers in Guernsey, and only about one in 10 of those qualify for carers allowance.’

There are currently 560 carer’s allowance claims being paid each week by the States. The projected expenditure in 2022 is £2.7m.

Employment & Social Security president Deputy Peter Roffey said that he personally would like to increase the level of benefit but cost was the barrier.

‘Carer’s allowance is not intended to be a wage for caring or a person’s sole source of income,’ he said.

Mr Harwood said that the States needed to build on a carers’ action plan published in 2019, which proposed a number of improvements to services.

‘If you are a carer and if you have to give up work, or you have reduced the hours of your work, the compensation is not there,’ he said.