Children's Handbook Scotland 2020/21Chapter 5: Disabled children at residential school3. Non-means-tested benefits Carer’s allowance
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Carer’s allowance
If you are getting carer’s allowance (CA) for caring for your child, there are two main reasons why your entitlement may be affected if s/he is away at school.
    •You cannot get CA unless the person for whom you care is getting DLA care component at the middle or highest rate or PIP daily living component. If your child has been away at school for four weeks or more, the care component/daily living component stops. This means your CA entitlement stops.
    •In order to qualify for CA, you have to be caring for the disabled person for at least 35 hours a week. If your child is away at school, you are unlikely to satisfy this rule. However, you can have some time off from caring and still be entitled to CA. See below for how this rule works.
Time off from caring
You can still be entitled to CA during temporary breaks from caring. You can have a break from caring of up to four weeks in any period of 26 weeks (or a break of up to 12 weeks if either you or the person for whom you care is having treatment in a hospital or ‘similar institution’ for at least eight of the 12 weeks).1Reg 4(2) SS(ICA) Regs If your child is away at school, you can probably make use of this rule to keep your CA for the first four weeks s/he is away (unless you have already had a break in caring within the last 26 weeks, or your child’s care component stops before the end of the four-week period). See here for more on breaks from caring.
 
1     Reg 4(2) SS(ICA) Regs »
If your child comes home temporarily
DLA care component/PIP daily living component is payable for the days your child spends at home (see here). You may also be able to get CA for periods your child spends at home, provided you can show that you spend at least 35 hours a week caring for her/him. A ‘week’ for CA runs from Sunday to Saturday.1s122 SSCBA 1992 The time you spend caring does not have to be spread across seven days, provided it amounts to 35 hours in the period from Sunday to the following Saturday.
Time spent preparing for your child’s time at home and cleaning after s/he has gone can count as time spent caring for her/him – eg, any shopping or cooking that relates solely to the visit, and cleaning up afterwards, can count as caring.2CG/006/1990; para 60041 DMG
Example
Sanjit is aged 10 and is at a residential school because of his disability. He is entitled to DLA mobility component at the higher rate and care component at the highest rate. Every few weeks he comes home for a long weekend. He comes home on Thursday afternoon and returns to school on Tuesday morning. When Sanjit comes home for the weekend, the care component is payable for six days (Thursday to Tuesday – see the example on here). Sanjit’s mother claims CA for the time he is at home. She spends four hours preparing for his arrival on the Thursday and three hours cleaning up after he goes away on the Tuesday. While Sanjit is at home, the care his mother provides is very intensive and includes being up for long periods during the night.
Provided Sanjit’s mother can show she spends at least 35 hours caring for him between Thursday afternoon and Saturday at midnight (including the four hours preparing for his arrival), and again between Saturday midnight and Tuesday (including the three hours cleaning up), she should get CA for two weeks.
 
1     s122 SSCBA 1992 »
2     CG/006/1990; para 60041 DMG »
Carer element, carer premium or carer addition
If you get universal credit (UC), the carer element stops when you no longer have ‘regular and substantial’ caring responsibilities for your child (see here). If your entitlement to CA stops, the carer premium or carer addition in your income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance, pension credit or housing benefit stops eight weeks after your entitlement to CA stops. This rule applies to council tax reduction unless you are also getting UC.1IS Sch 2 para 14ZA(3) IS Regs
JSA Sch 1 para 17(3) JSA Regs
ESA Sch 4 para 8(2) ESA Regs
PC Sch 1 Part II para 4(3) SPC Regs
HB Sch 3 para 17(2) HB Regs; Sch 3 para 9(2) HB(SPC) Regs
CTR Sch 1 para 14(2) CTR(S) Regs; Sch 1 para 10(2) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs
If you get CA again, the carer premium/addition/element should start again and continue while you are getting CA and for eight weeks after it stops again, unless you are on UC in which case you get the carer element while you have ‘regular and substantial’ caring reponsibilities for your child (see here).
When your CA stops (and starts again), let the Department for Work and Pensions and/or local authority know immediately to avoid overpayments and underpayments.
If you have lost entitlement to a benefit because the carer premium or carer addition has stopped being included in your applicable amount, you will usually have to claim UC instead if you were previously on a different means-tested benefit.
See Chapter 1 for more information about the carer element/premium/addition.
 
1     IS Sch 2 para 14ZA(3) IS Regs
JSA Sch 1 para 17(3) JSA Regs
ESA Sch 4 para 8(2) ESA Regs
PC Sch 1 Part II para 4(3) SPC Regs
HB Sch 3 para 17(2) HB Regs; Sch 3 para 9(2) HB(SPC) Regs
CTR Sch 1 para 14(2) CTR(S) Regs; Sch 1 para 10(2) CTR(SPC)(S) Regs »