Where both carers are eligible

Where there is no agreement between the two carers on who should receive the support, and both carers meet all of the eligibility criteria for either Carer Support Payment or Carer Additional Person Payment to be included in a Carer Support award, a determination needs to be carried out to decide which of the two carers should receive the support.

The determination should take into account factors including, but not limited to:

• the family connections between the carer(s) and cared for person
• where the carer(s) and cared for person live, and
• whether the carer(s) are receiving any benefits on behalf of, or as a result of their responsibility for, the cared for person
• determinations of this kind should also take into account the best interests of the cared for person. This could include situations where the cared for person has contacted Social Security Scotland about one or more of the carers who has applied for support.

Support may be awarded to one carer rather than another because they are a parent or relative of the cared for person, if they live in the same household as them, if they are an appointee or other representative of the cared for person, or receiving benefits, for example Child Benefit, because of their responsibility for the cared for person.

Where a carer is currently receiving support and Scottish Ministers determine they are no longer the carer for Carer Support Payment or Carer Additional Person Payment components of Carer Support, a determination of the whole Carer Support award will be carried out and the specific component ended and support awarded to the other eligible carer by way of a separate determination.    

Where this is the case, the award of the first carer should end on the first day of the award week following the week in which the determination is made by Scottish Ministers, and the award to the second carer should begin on the first day of the award week after the award to the first carer is ended. There should be no backdating or overpayment recovery.  

The use of this determination process would not affect the re-determination and appeal rights of either carer.

Example

Alexsandr and Lana and are parents to Mariya, who receives the highest rate care of Child Disability Payment. Alexsandr and Lana are separated. Carer Support Payment is in payment to Alexsandr who provides 35 hours of care each weekend when Mariya stays with him.

Lana makes an application for Carer Support which includes Carer Support Payment and there is no agreement between the two on who should receive support. Mariya lives with Lana during the week, where Lana provides 24/7 care. Lana also receives Child Benefit payments for Mariya and payments of their Child Disability Benefit.

In this case, while both carers meet the criteria, it is considered that Lana’s caring role is more likely to impact on their life and ability to work and it is decided that they should be entitled to receive the Carer Support Payment as part of their Carer Support award instead of Alexsandr.