Benefits for Students in Scotland Handbook 2023/24Part 1: Benefits and tax credits Chapter 2: Carer support payment
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Chapter 2: Carer support payment
Basic facts
    •Carer support payment (CSP) is paid to people who care for someone with a severe disability.
    •It is being rolled out gradually over 2024.
    •Most students can claim.
    •CSP is not means tested, but you cannot get it if you work and earn more than £151 a week.
    •Getting CSP qualifies you for a carer element in universal credit or a carer premium in your income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, income-related employment and support allowance and housing benefit.
1. What is carer support payment?
Carer support payment (CSP) is a new Scottish benefit, replacing carer’s allowance. See previous versions of this handbook for information on carer’s allowance.
At the time of writing, claims for CSP can be made by those living in Dundee City, Perth and Kinross or the Western Isles.1Sch 1 para 2 CSP Regs It became available in these areas on 19 November 2023, and will roll out to the rest of Scotland during 2024. People already on carer’s allowance in Scotland will be transferred to CSP over the next year.
CSP is for people who spend at least 35 hours a week looking after a disabled person (an adult or child).2Reg 5(2) CSP Regs The disabled person must be getting a qualifying benefit: attendance allowance, the middle or highest rate of the disability living allowance/child disability payment care component, either rate of the daily living component of personal independence payment/adult disability payment, armed forces independence payment or constant attendance allowance in certain cases. The amount of CSP you get is not means tested and your student loan, grant or other income does not affect it. Most students are eligible for CSP.
Note: the Scottish government pays a supplement to people living in Scotland who get CSP. It is paid as a lump sum every six months (£288.60 in 2024). A one-off young carer grant is available for 16–18-year-old carers who cannot get CSP (see here). See cpag.org.uk/scottish-benefits for more information on these payments.
 
1     Sch 1 para 2 CSP Regs »
2     Reg 5(2) CSP Regs »
2. Who is eligible
You are eligible if you are a part-time student (see below), a full-time student age 20 or over, or a full-time student in advanced education age 16-19, and you satisfy the basic rules (see here).1Reg 13(1) CSP Regs You are not usually eligible if you are in full-time non-advanced education age 16-19, although exceptions will apply later in 2024 (see below).
 
1     Reg 13(1) CSP Regs »
Full-time non-advanced education
Only those age 16-19 in full-time non-advanced education are excluded from CSP.
Non-advanced education is education below the level of Higher National Certificate (HNC), and includes school level courses such as Scottish national qualifications up to and including advanced higher level, Scottish Wider Access Programmes and National Certificates.1Reg 13(4) CSP Regs
You are in full-time education if you are undertaking a course where the average time spent studying is more than 21 hours a week. These 21 hours include not just classes, practical work, lectures and seminars, but also ‘supervised study’. Meal breaks and unsupervised study are ignored. For carer’s allowance, you are regarded as studying under supervision if you are doing course work, whether at home or at college, alone or in the presence of a supervisor.2Flemming v SSWP [2002] EWCA Civ 641; Wright-Turner v Department for Social Development [2002] NICA 2 This does not have to be followed for CSP in Scotland, but is likely to be persuasive.
It is expected that from 23 June 2024, 16–19-year-olds in non-advanced full-time education will not be excluded from CSP if they are someone who would qualify for UC while receiving education (except if the reason they would qualify is because they are waiting to return to their course after taking time out due to illness or caring responsibilities (see here)). Backdating of such claims to 23 June 2024, if certain provisions are met, is also proposed.
 
1     Reg 13(4) CSP Regs »
2     Flemming v SSWP [2002] EWCA Civ 641; Wright-Turner v Department for Social Development [2002] NICA 2 »
Basic rules
As well as being a student who is eligible to claim, to qualify for CA you must satisfy all of the following conditions.1s70 SSCBA 1992
    •You are aged 16 or over.
    •You spend at least 35 hours a week caring for someone.
    •The person for whom you care gets a qualifying disability benefit: the middle or highest care component rates of disability living allowance/child disability payment, the daily living component of personal independence payment/adult disability payment, attendance allowance, constant attendance allowance (in certain cases) or armed forces independence payment.
    •You do not already get carer’s allowance, UC carer element because you care for someone else, or a young carer grant (but you can get CSP if you previously had a young carer grant).
    •You are not working and earning more than £151 a week.
    •You satisfy certain rules on residence and presence in the UK and are not a ‘person subject to immigration control’.
See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for details.
 
1     s70 SSCBA 1992 »
3. Amount of benefit
The amount of CSP is £81.90 a week (April 2024 rate). You are also paid a supplement to increase your CSP. This is paid in two lump-sum payments each year.
4. Claiming carer support payment
Carer support payment (CSP) is administered by Social Security Scotland (SSS). You claim online at mygov.scot/carer-support-payment/how-to-apply, by telephone on 0800 182 2222 or on the approved form. Your claim can be backdated for up to three months if you qualified during that earlier period. It can be backdated further if you claim within 13 weeks of the person you care for being awarded a qualifying benefit.
Benefit is usually paid directly into a bank account, four weeks in arrears. In some cases, payment may be made weekly in advance.
Only one person can qualify for CSP, CA and/or the carer element of UC for caring for the same disabled person. If you and another person claim for the same person and both meet the entitlement conditions, you can agree who should be entitled. You should inform Social Security Scotland (SSS) of your decision in writing (signed by you both). If you cannot agree, SSS decides who is entitled (consulting the DWP if applicable), and taking into account:
    •the best interests of the person you care for; and
    •whether you and the other person who claimed are related to the person your care for, live with or near them, or get any benefits on behalf of or in respect of them; and
    •any other relevant information.
If you get a determination that you are not entitled to CSP under these rules, you can request a redetermination.
5. Challenging a decision
If you think a decision about your carer support payment is wrong, you can ask Social Security Scotland (SSS) to look at it again. This process is known as a ‘redetermination’. The time limit for requesting a redetermination is 42 days from the date of the determination. SSS then has 56 calendar days to notify you of the decision. If you are still not happy when you get this notice, you can appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal for Scotland. If it was not possible to ask SSS to redetermine the decision within the time limit, but you ask for a redetermination within one year of the determination, this can be considered as long as you have ‘good reason’ for lateness. You can also ask SSS to look at a determination again at any time if certain grounds are met – eg, if there has been a change in your circumstances.
6. Other benefits and tax credits
The benefit cap does not apply if you get carer support payment (CSP).
The disabled person’s benefit
Your entitlement to CSP depends on the person for whom you care continuing to get their disability benefit. If their benefit stops, your benefit should also stop. To avoid being overpaid, make sure you tell Social Security Scotland (SSS) if the disabled person’s attendance allowance, disability living allowance/child disability payment, personal independence payment/adult disability payment or armed forces independence payment stops being paid.
Note: although CSP may mean more money for you, it may result in the person for whom you care losing some income support (IS), income-related employment and support allowance (ESA), pension credit or housing benefit (HB). If they live alone, they may be getting a severe disability premium included in the assessment of these benefits. They cannot continue to get this premium if you get CSP for them. See CPAG’s Welfare Benefits and Tax Credits Handbook for details and, if in doubt, get advice before claiming.
Overlapping benefits
Although CSP is not means tested, you cannot receive it at the same time as certain other benefits, including maternity allowance, widowed parent’s allowance, retirement pension, contribution-based jobseeker’s allowance (JSA) or contributory ESA. If you are eligible for more than one benefit, you get whichever is worth the most.
Getting a carer premium or element
If you are a student getting CSP and claiming universal credit (UC), you are eligible for a carer element in your UC and you are not expected to look for work. If you are getting IS, income-based JSA, income-related ESA or HB, a carer premium is included in these benefits, even if your CSP is not being paid because you are getting another benefit that overlaps with it.
Working tax credit
If you have children and a partner and you get CSP, you are eligible for working tax credit (see here) if your partner works at least 16 hours a week, rather than the usual 24 hours.
Carer’s allowance supplement
If you get CSP on a ‘qualifying date’, you are entitled to a top-up payment from Social Security Scotland (SSS) called a ‘carer’s allowance supplement’. Each payment of £288.60 covers a six-month period. The qualifying dates for 2024 are 8 April (paid in June 2024), and 7 October (paid in December 2024). You must actually be receiving CSP on the qualifying date – an ‘underlying entitlement’ is not enough. The CA supplement is disregarded for all means-tested benefits and tax credits. There is no need to make a claim for CA supplement; it should be paid automatically.
Young carer grant
The young carer grant is a one-off grant of £383.75 (2024 rate), payable once a year. Eligible young carers are those aged 16–18 (regardless of their circumstances) who are not getting CSP or CA. To qualify, you must be providing care for at least 16 hours a week in total, although this can be a combination of care for up to three people. The cared-for person(s) must be in receipt of one of the benefits that allows entitlement to CSP (see here). You must also have provided care in at least 10 of the last 13 weeks. Apply to SSS by telephone, in writing or online – see mygov.scot/young-carer-grant/how-to-apply.
For up-to-date information on the young carer grant, see cpag.org.uk/young-carer-grant.