'Payment puts more money in the pockets of carers'
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Scottish Government Viewpoint
CARERS will receive the first payments of the new carer's allowance supplement from mid-September, backdated to April.
This new benefit will be paid twice a year by Social Security Scotland and is the first major new public service to be created since devolution.
Eligible carers will get a supplementary payment of £221 – equivalent of an extra £8.50 per week – an increase of 13 per cent on carer's allowance from the Department of Work and Pensions.
The benefit is worth more than £30 million a year and will boost the income of more than 75,000 carers.
Scotland's social security secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, said: "Making these payments will represent a historic moment, launching a new public service that will deliver a social security system that treats people with dignity, fairness and respect.
"We recognise the important contribution carers make, and we believe the current total paid out to them is not enough.
"This supplementary payment allows us to get more money in the pockets of carers in Scotland as quickly as possible."
The carer's allowance supplement will be paid to carers who were in receipt of carer's allowance from the DWP on the qualifying date of April 16.
Carers are not required to do anything to receive this payment as, if eligible, it will happen automatically and be paid using the same method that people get their carer's allowance from the DWP.
To ensure the safe and secure delivery of these payments, they will be phased with the vast majority of payments being made in September and a small number of more complex payments made into early October.
