The Carer’s Assistance (Young Carer Grant and Carer Support Payment) (Miscellaneous Amendment and Saving Provision) (Scotland) Regulations 2025: scrutiny report

The draft regulations provide for the extension of eligibility for Young Carer Grant to 19-year-olds.

When Carer Support Payment was introduced in 2023 with widened access for students but not for most 16 to 19-year-olds in full-time, non-advanced education, we noted a gap in provision for young carers aged 19, with many having no access to either Young Carer Grant or Carer Support Payment. We recommended that this could be addressed by extending Young Carer Grant to 19-year-olds.¹Scottish Commission on Social Security – Scrutiny report on draft regulations – Carer’s Assistance (Carer Support Payment) (Scotland) Regulations 2023 We are pleased that this change will now fill that gap.

This change means that young carers will be eligible for four payments of the grant in total, between the ages of 16 and 19, providing them with one additional payment. The Scottish Government anticipates that this will extend financial support to up to 1,000 young carers, based on the most recent Young Carer Grant statistics.

However, we are aware that an alternative policy choice would be to give full access to Carer Support Payment for young carers from age 16, a choice favoured by the stakeholders we spoke to. We noted in 2023 that there was a lack of evidence about the impact of the availability of social security for young carers on their caring and educational choices and outcomes. We recommended that the Scottish Government should undertake this research. In response the Scottish Government noted that it would “consider how best to evaluate the impact of the changes in the education rules, on those who are eligible and those who are not, including any impact on their education and wellbeing.”

The Scottish Government has told us recently that they are due “to explore the immediate (process) and short-term impacts of Carer Support Payment in early 2025, including the accessibility of the benefit… This survey will also form the initial element of fieldwork for the follow-up evaluation of Young Carer Grant… Together, these two strands of evaluation will allow us to consider the impact that Young Carer Grant and Carer Support Payment have on young carers, and the extent to which the benefits have encouraged young carers to seek out new opportunities… A final report detailing the findings of the carer’s benefits evaluation is scheduled for early 2026.”²Scottish Government response to SCoSS written question, 17 January 2025

However, we think the Scottish Government needs to go further to address the lack of evidence informing its policy choices. Given this group of young carers does not have access to Carer Support Payment, the planned evaluation may not give the insights needed.  It should be supplemented by research on likely outcomes if this support were to be available.

Recommendation 9: The Scottish Government should go further to address the lack of evidence on the effect that access to benefit for young carers may have on their caring and education choices and outcomes by supplementing its evaluation of currently available support with research on likely outcomes if more support were to be available.