Carers: National Insurance Baroness Hollis of Heigham asked Her Majesty's Government: What is the estimated cost in (a) 2020; (b) 2030; and (c) 2050 of extending a carer’s national insurance credit to those caring for more than 20 hours per week for (i) those on middle and higher rate disability living allowance or attendance allowance; and (ii) those on any disability benefit to acquire eligibility for the basic state pension only, and for the basic state pension and the state second pension. [HL2662] The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Work and Pensions (Lord McKenzie of Luton) The information is provided in the tables below. (i) Table 1 shows the estimated cost of providing a carer’s national insurance credit to those caring for at least 20 hours per week for those on attendance allowance, constant attendance allowance or the middle or higher rate care component of disability living allowance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | |2020|2030|2050 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Gross |60 |300 |1,150| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Net |50 |200 |800 | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |Source: DWP estimates based on evidence from the Family Resources Survey, carer’s allowance caseload projections, demographic projections and administrative data.| | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (ii) Table 2 shows the estimated additional cost (that is, additional to the costs shown in Table 1) of extending the carer’s credit to all people who are estimated to be caring for at least 20 hours and not otherwise qualifying for state pension. Robust estimates in respect of people caring for those receiving any disability benefit are not available. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | |2020|2030|2050| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BSP only |Gross|0-5 |0-5 |0-5 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Net |0-5 |0-5 |0-5 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |BSP and S2P |Gross|20 |100 |400 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |Net |15 |70 |250 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Source: DWP estimates based on evidence from the Family Resources Survey, carer’s allowance caseload projections, demographic projections and administrative data.| | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes for tables: 1. Figures are presented in £ million, 2006-07 price terms and include overseas cases. 2. Figures in Table 1 refer to the estimated expenditure associated with introducing a national insurance credit for basic state pension and state second pension, from 2010, for people caring for at least 20 hours per week for those in receipt of attendance allowance, constant attendance allowance or the middle or higher rate care component of disability living allowance. Figures presented are consistent with the policy detail and the estimated costs of reform set out in the regulatory impact assessment accompanying the Pensions Bill. 3. Figures in Table 2 refer to the estimated additional expenditure associated with extending the national insurance credit described in part (i) to all people who are estimated to be caring for more than 20 hours and who are not otherwise qualifying for state pension. Estimates are less than £5 million for basic state pension, since the single contribution condition will mean that people reaching state pension age on or after 6 April 2010 will need only 30 qualifying years for a full basic state pension. 4. Estimates of the cost of a particular element of the reform package, such as the carer's credit, depend on the order in which they are modelled. Following the approach used in the regulatory impact assessment accompanying the Pensions Bill, gross costs presented in this Answer refer to the estimated expenditure on the carer's credit as part of the reforms to coverage set out in the Pensions Bill. They take into account, for example, the reduction in qualifying years required for a full basic state pension. They do not include other reforms that affect basic state pension, such as earnings uprating. 5. Net costs include savings seen from reduced expenditure on income-related benefits (pension credit, housing benefit and council tax benefit) and from changes to state pension age. 6. Figures have been rounded, according to the scale of the figure. Figures below £5 million are shown as £0-5 million. 7. Figures quoted relate only to benefit expenditure and do not take account of administration costs.